The Last Remnant
by Rapidfyrez
Summary: The last of her kind, a refugee on a foreign world. Kara only wants to find her place in this new world, to help build it a shining future. Unfortunately, the demons of her past still haunt her... In more ways than one.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Sneaking Suspicion**

Kara looked into her backpack again, mentally checking off the list of items she brought with her: clothes, hygiene materials, a sleeping bag, writing supplies and utensils. Check, check, check and check. She zipped up the bag as she walked, slung it over her shoulder, and then immediately rechecked it.

When she had sent in her transcript, Kara had been confident in her decision, despite the strict orders not to apply to Beacon Academy. It was only now, on the campus of the illustrious academy, that she started to feel doubts about her decision. Kara knew the campus grounds fine, she had walked them several times since she was ten years old, getting lost wasn't what worried her.

Being caught unprepared, that was what had her on edge. She had not seen much social interaction outside of her adopted family's home, and this was the first time she was actively defying them. In the six, almost seven, years since she had arrived on Remnant, Kara Zor-El had made a conscious effort to hide who and what she was from the general public. A human-like alien, from the doomed world of Krypton, possibly its sole survivor. The thought made Kara's fingers fumble with the zipper, effortlessly tearing the metal zipper off.

Kara stopped in place and sighed, "Fantastic. Just what I needed. Any more curveballs I need thrown my way, Rao?"

She pushed her wide rimmed spectacles back onto the bridge of her nose with her index finger, and looked up at Beacon Tower, home to the Cross Continental Transmit System (Or CCTS for short). It was common knowledge that the CCTS was also the location of the headmaster's office, where he could keep vigil over the entire academy. Though, much like the courtyard Kara stood in, it would be unoccupied today. Normally, Beacon was a busy mess of students and visitors to the academy, but today it was disturbingly empty. Initiation for the new huntsmen and huntresses had begun, and those already enrolled were taking advantage of that to take some much deserved leave.

The fact that she was standing in front of Beacon Tower though, told Kara one very important thing. She was on the wrong side of campus, the amphitheater was literally on the other side of the academy. In her nervous walk across the school, she hadn't paid a lick of attention to her surroundings, and if she missed the gathering at the amphitheater, someone was going to notice.

The last thing Kara needed was more attention being drawn to her. She was lucky that someone in the courtyard had had a minor dust incident that left a crater in the pavement, it had drawn attention away from the students, long enough for Kara to sneak by anyone that might recognize her, but she should've known that luck wouldn't last.

She spared a glance at her surroundings for any signs of a wary traveler, and when she found none, took off from the courtyard in a blur. This was what she struggled to hide for so long, and why she had come to Beacon. Kara had discovered very quickly that on this world, on Remnant, her Kryptonian physiology was supercharged by the rays of the youthful younger star that it orbited, making her stronger and faster than should have been possible. The rich atmosphere so clean and nourishing compared to that of her home, had supercharged Kara's senses once she adapted to the atmosphere.

These abilities she had, her super strength, her speed, her senses, all were familiar to the people of Remnant. The huntsmen that protected them all possessed unique abilities of their own, and while none could rival Kara's, she believed that the veteran defenders and warriors of this world were her only hope to learn how to use her abilities, not just control them.

But that would only be possible if she actually made it into the school. With no one watching her, Kara quickly rushed up and down the elegant avenues that connected the campus buildings with one another. She didn't dare approach at her top speed though, her shoes wouldn't last if she tried.

Kara cornered hard, the amphitheater only a block away, before plowing into a pair of lost students like a bowling ball. The girl went down with a yelp, and both students spun off the sidewalk onto the meticulously trimmed lawn. Her glasses clattered noisily across the ground, with Kara skidding to a stop behind them. She groaned and sat up, glancing sheepishly at the shallow furrow her nose had carved into the ground, and the mess of dust she'd spilled onto her blouse and slacks

"Whoops…" Kara rubbed the dust off her nose and snatched her glasses off the ground. The rims were scuffed, but the thick glass hadn't cracked, of course. The material her spectacles were made of was far denser than was the standard. As long as Kara wore these glasses, her wide array of senses could be kept focused. She could keep them in control without the spectacles of course, but hours of trying to reign them in would fry her nerves. So Kara was glad to still have her glasses, even if they did look incredibly tacky.

That line of thought was cut off when someone groaned behind Kara. The other students! She hopped to her feet and rushed to the students she'd crashed through. A cursory glance showed they were uninjured, internal or otherwise. A nervous relief flooded Kara's system. She offered a shaking hand to both students, and easily pulled them to their feet.

"I am so sorry about that!" she hastily apologized, "I was just in a rush, did not want to be late, and I sort of kind of...um.. Anyway, are you alright?"

One, a familiar looking tall boy with blonde hair and plates of white armor strapped to his chest and shoulders, rubbed his head and groaned, "I think so, the world's still spinning a little… you okay Ruby?"

The girl, Ruby, was short, with dark red hair that Kara mistook for black at first glance. She wore a red cloak, black combat skirt, black blouse, and black boots. There was certainly a theme with her.

Ruby put both hands on the sides of her head, and said, "I'm alright, I feel like I got hit by another explosion."

Kara winced, "Oooh, sorry! I really should be better about watching where I am going!"

After blinking twice, Ruby smiled and offered a hand, "It's all good. You a new student?"

It was a customary greeting amongst humans, shaking hands, and Kara carefully returned the gesture. She felt a twinge of pride that Ruby didn't wince in pain. Kara's muscle control was growing.

"Yes, I am, my name is Kara, and that was why I was in a hurry, I did not want to be late to the amphitheater."

Ruby looked at the boy, "We were just actually talking about that, right Jaune?"

"If by talking, you mean freaking out because we have no idea where it is, then yeah."

Kara tilted her head at his words, "You are new students but… you did not bother to learn where we meet next?"

Ruby looked sheepish, "I was literally just offered a position into Beacon a few days ago. Never had time to look!"

Kara turned to Jaune, who just shrugged, "Um, poor planning I guess?"

"I see." Kara said, and quirked her lips to the side, "Well, I know where the amphitheater is. Would you like me to show you?"

The two exchanged a look, and Ruby said, "Lead the way!"

Kara made a conscious effort to not run off and abandon Jaune and Ruby. There was plenty of time until the assembly began, she was just on edge, that was all. A teetering, knife-thin edge, ready to go tumbling off the side at the slightest gust of wind. All it would take is one overlooked detail, one mistake and all her planning would be for naught.

'Stop doing that!' she mentally scolded. She needed to get her mind off these hypotheticals and fast.

Kara looked over her shoulder at Ruby and said, "So, Ruby, it is? You said you were only recently accepted into Beacon? I was not aware that the academy accepted students so late, or at such a young age."

If she had to guess, Kara would put Ruby to be about a year younger than her, maybe two. It was harder for her to tell with humans, their growth spurts were so erratic compared to Kryptonians.

Ruby smiled sheepishly, "Oh, um, I don't think they do. I was kind of a special case. I may have tried stopping a robbery, things started getting crazy, then Ozpin's assistant Glynda got involved, next thing I knew, interrogation room and I'm being offered an invitation to Beacon."

The short girl sucked in a breath of air to continue, then paused when she saw Kara's face. Her glasses had almost slid off her face, while her eyes seemed to double in size. Ruby cocked her head to the side, "Uh, you okay Kara?"

Kara blinked and shook her head, pushing her glasses back into place, "Fine? Yes, yes of course, very fine, thank you. That is just very surprising. You must be quite skilled."

Ruby made an adorable sputtering noise, scuffing her boots against the ground as they walked and ducking her head to hide the blush on her face. Kara felt relief return, that was close. But if what Ruby said was true, then Kara would need to keep her distance from her during the assembly. Knowing Ozpin, he may very well be keeping an eye out for his new 'protege' in the crowd, and if he spotted Kara, there was no telling what might happen

"Well, she does use this huge honking gun-scythe thing, that might've helped." Jaune interjected.

Kara and Ruby both looked at him, the latter smiling again, "My baby is awesome incarnate, but there's plenty of really cool weapons at Beacon… er, mostly."

Jaune scratched the back of his head and looked down at his waist, where a white scabbard hung from his belt, and sighed "I know, I know. Boring sword is boring."

"As long as it functions, entertainment would be irrelevant." Kara replied. "Function beats form every time."

"But it helps to have something that can do both," Ruby shot back, wearing a silly grin as she said it.

Jaune just sighed, "Right. W-well, what about you Kara? You got some sort of crazy weapon in your bag? A laser hammer, chainsword, a gun-gun?"

Kara blinked and glanced at her backpack, "Um, no, not really. It is… er…"

A pit began to form in her stomach and Kara turned forward again, and saw her deliverance rising before her. "Oh my, look at this, we have arrived!"

The glass-domed amphitheater stood over four storeys high at least, the same creamy white as most of Beacon's edifice, highlighted with a soft cyan blue. Its doors stood wide open, and dozens of students of various shapes and sizes were already filtering into the main hall. One, a busty blonde of average height, stopped at the entrance and turned toward the three, smiling at Ruby and waving her over.

Ruby blushed, "That'd by my sister. Welp, I'll see you guys later!"

"Wait, what?" no sooner had the words left Jaunes mouth had Ruby rushed off to stand with her sister, the two following the crowd inside.

Jaune sighed and let his shoulders slump, "Well that was short lived. Guess it's just you and me now, eh Kara?"

He received no answer, and when he looked at where Kara had been, he only saw an empty space. "Oh come on!"

Kara quickly rushed inside the auditorium, which was as cavernous on the inside as the outside had suggested, and was already filled with promising new students, and took her place behind a tall red-headed girl. It had been a bit mean of her to just abandon Jaune like that, but right now she didn't need to risk running late and drawing even more attention to herself. She made a mental note to apologize to him later for her rudeness, and hoped he would forgive her.

That was for later though, now she just had to wait for the welcoming speech to begin… eventually. It occurred to Kara, as students milled about in crowds, filling the amphitheater with their aimless chatter, that she might have had far more time than she expected. The central stand, where Professor Ozpin was to give his speech was suspiciously empty at the moment, confirming her thoughts. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her Scroll, a small white object that fit into the palm of her hand. They were the premiere communication devices on Remnant, that also doubled as miniature computers. Some had dubbed them 'smartphones', which was a ridiculous notion.

Scrolls were primitive, clunky, and took up far more space than Kara cared for, but she would not deny that they functioned as intended, and it made for a good clock. She grabbed the top and bottom of the device, and pulled it apart, exposing a clear screen that flickered to life with the current time, half past noon. Kara frowned, the welcoming speech should have started by now then, what was-

A microphone buzzed to life, and a man cleared his throat, silencing the crowds. Kara squeaked in surprise, and almost flung her scroll into the back of the head of the girl standing in front of her, only catching it at the last second and slipping it back into her pocket. She peered past the girl's shoulder and saw the central stage was now occupied.

A tall man dressed in a clean black suit stood in front of the microphone, supporting himself with a simple black cane. His face was remarkably young despite his age, which was only betrayed by his thick white hair. A pair of solid black shades hid his eyes, but even from all the way in the back of the amphitheater, Kara could see the bags that rested under them. Standing to behind him to his left, was an equally tall blonde woman, dressed in a white blouse, black skirt and tights, and black boots. A decorative cape, dark black on the outside, and a radiant violet on the inside, hung from her back. She stood attentively by the man's side.

Kara knew both of them well, Professor Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon Academy, and his assistant Glynda Goodwitch. The moment she identified them, she shrank back behind the girl in front of her, and was thankful for her slightly below average height. Neither of the two could possibly have seen her yet, and she aimed to keep it that way.

Ozpin finished clearing his throat and began to speak, "I'll keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills."

Kara glanced down at her hands, flexed them open and closed, and smiled.

"And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this But your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you, to take the first step."

The amphitheater was near dead silent, and Kara peered around the girl to see Ozpin was done, turning to leave. As he did, she saw his eyes peek over the rim of his glasses, and they zeroed in on her, immediately. Her heart jumped into her throat, and Kara hid behind the girl again.

Ozpin knew she was here, he knew and didn't say anything! Oh that was not good, that couldn't be good. That man was too clever by half, if he knew Kara was here, then he had something planned. Then again, he always had something planned. Suddenly, her enrollment at Beacon seemed like a really, really dumb idea.

She was here now though, and like it or not, Kara was stuck there. Her options were the same as before, stick with the plan, after all, maybe Kara was just being paranoid, right?!

Yeah, right.

As Ozpin walked off stage, Glynda stepped up to the microphone and said, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight after your campus tours. Tomorrow you will begin your initiation. Be ready. Until then, you are dismissed."

The crowd dispersed, and Kara made a beeline for exit.

For the rest of the day, Kara made a concentrated effort to be as uninteresting a sight as possible. Though she wanted to meet back up with Ruby or Jaune to talk during the tour of the academy, that was a luxury she couldn't afford. Instead, she planted herself in the largest crowd she could and kept her eyes and ears open for any of Ozpin's staff, especially Glynda. She had vanished along with the headmaster after the initial address, but that didn't put Kara at ease. In fact, it did the exact opposite.

It was a pity too, she would have enjoyed the activities for the day otherwise, it would have been a chance to meet other students and to socialize with others her own age for once. But she was so on edge that as day turned to night, she found herself mentally exhausted and on her last, frayed, nerves. When it was time for everyone to retire to the ballroom, her body ached for a chance to sleep and finally let her guard down; all she would need was an out of the way location to sleep for the night and she'd be in the clear.

That was the plan, anyway.

Kara entered the ballroom after changing into her sleepwear, dark red pajama bottoms and a dark blue button up shirt, and silently padded past the many students with her bag slung over her shoulder. She kept her head down as she walked, and let her eyes flick back and forth from beneath her glasses.

The ballroom was a lavish building, soft carpeted floors, towering ceilings and large elegant chandeliers that hung from the ceiling, it was all very fancy. Kara's favorite feature though, as she looked to her right, was the wall of large windows that were filled with the brilliant light of a thousand stars, and the soft glow of campus lights as Beacon slowly grew silent. Most striking was Remnant's moon, a shattered disk that dominated the night sky. It was without a doubt the most beautiful part of the night sky, in a harrowing sort of way.

Any other time, Kara would have snuck out to lay on the roof of the ballroom, and gotten lost in gazing at the stars that were still so alien to her. But not tonight, tonight was only business.

The ballroom was a multi-story complex, but only had two real floors, a balcony and the ground floor. Most of the student body was congregating on the ground floor, but there was no rule against sleeping on the balcony. So Kara rushed towards and up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time. At the top she saw that, yes, the balcony was nearly abandoned.

The keyword being nearly.

One other student had already established herself on the balcony, and was sitting on her sleeping bag while flipping through her scroll. A knapsack lay next to her, but aside from that and her fluffy red pj's, she had no other equipment with her.

Kara stood at the top of the stairway, silently wanting to fume, but too tired to summon the necessary anger. She just let out a small tired sigh instead and walked over to the girl, who seemed to sense Kara's presence before she said anything.

The girl looked up at Kara and brushed her bright red bangs out of her eyes, "Oh, hello!" she said, cheerfully.

There was something in her tone, the genuine cheer, that made Kara smile, "Hello. Are you saving a spot for someone?"

The girl returned the smile, "Sleep wherever you like."

"Thank you."

Kara set her bag down, unrolled her sleeping bag, and collapsed into it face first, letting out a satisfied moan as she sank into the polyester sheet. The girl giggled, "It sounds like you've had a very long day."

"The longest," Kara said, though her words were muffled by the sleeping bag.

She rolled onto her back and sighed, "But I guess I should have expected that, coming here."

"Yeah," the girl agreed, and looked off the balcony at the students below, many starting to fall asleep. "It's been a pretty big jump from Sanctum to Beacon for me, but I like change, you never know quite what to expect."

"A little consistency is nice too." Kara grumbled, then looked over at the girl with her eyes squinted. She removed her glasses, then put them on, then took them off again, wheels slowly turning in her head.

They clicked, and she suddenly realized who she was looking at. The end of the girls lips twitched at Kara's expression. "Wait, I know who you are. You are Pyrrha Nikos, are you not?"

"Yeah, that's me," Pyrrha sighed, leaning her head back against the wall.

Kara sat up and crossed her legs, an excited smile on her face, "The reigning champion from Sanctum Academy, undefeated. You are a celebrity!"

Pyrrha shrugged, "Sort of? I just fight to the best of my ability, nothing special."

As giddy as Kara felt, meeting this celebrity in person, she was able to pick up on the obvious uncomfortable posture that Pyrrha was in. Kara paused for a moment, wracked her brain for what she might have said wrong, and came up empty handed.

"Did… I say something wrong Ms. Nikos? I did not mean to offend."

Pyrrha smiled again, but Kara could see past the it. Her mother on Krypton had worn that smile many times before, it was the smile of a well-intentioned liar. Kara looked out over the ground floor below, and back at the empty balcony. They were the only ones up there, away from the entirety of the new student body.

Sometimes, Kara felt like such an imbecile.

"Oh… Oh dear. I am sorry Ms. Nikos. I did not realize…. I can move somewhere else if you want. I would not want undue attention dragged to me either."

The false smile faded and Pyrrha shook her head, "Do you always talk like that, or am I an exception?"

Kara brought a hand to her lips, "I… just have trouble with contractions. I was raise… what is the term? Off the grid. I do not socialize very often."

"But you're here now."

That made Kara smile, "That I am. But I repeat, if you wish for me to move-"

"It's fine." Pyrrha interrupted. "Not many people realize… well…"

"What it is like to be placed above others?" Kara finished.

Pyrrha just nodded solemnly, and glanced off the balcony again. Her eyes, a surprising shade of green, took on a sad expression. "Yes, that. Sometimes the peace and quiet is a welcome relief."

"A place away from all the noise. That I understand." Kara sighed. "I do apologize though, Ms. Nikos-"

"Pyrrha, please."

Kara nodded, "Apologies, Pyrrha. I just… Got excited. My nerves are frayed, I have been trying to keep to myself."

Pyrrha looked back at Kara with a quizzical expression. "Nervous around new people?"

"Oh no, it's far worse than that," A familiar voice interrupted.

Kara felt her stomach plummet, and saw the surprised expression on Pyrrha's face. But she only had to hear the voice to know that this was it, she was busted. She could run, she could run very fast, but that would only delay the inevitable. The best option was to face the consequences head on.

Slowly, Kara turned around until she saw the source of the voice standing at the top of the stairs. Glynda Goodwitch stood there, arms folded and her riding crop gripped tightly in one hand. The expression on her face was one of nightmares, and made Kara immediately rethink her 'face the consequences' plan.

But the rest of her body was more intelligent than her brain, and rooted her in place. All she managed, was a small terrified squeak, followed by, "H-hello mother. Fancy meeting you here."

 **A/N: For those unaware, I made a post on SB a while back about how Remnant is on Hiatus. In the meantime, this is the story I'll be working on to keep my writing skills up to snuff. Hope you all enjoyed, please share your thoughts in the reviews.  
**

 **Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Initiation Day**

"Of all the poorly conceived, irresponsible, and dangerous ideas you've indulged in, this tops them all Kara! Unbelievable!" Glynda cursed angrily to herself as she stomped out of the ballroom, dragging Kara behind her by the wrist.

The girl ducked her head and felt her face burn from every set of eyes in the ballroom locking onto her. So much for staying under the radar, even Pyrrha couldn't help but watch as Kara was dragged off. At least she looked sympathetic to her plight though.

A small part of Kara, hidden behind the shame of being dragged off like a misbehaving child, realized that this was exactly her adopted mother's intention. Glynda was a woman with a meticulous mind, and she knew Kara better than anyone on Remnant. The very thought of going back into the ballroom after this scene filled her with dread. The realization that Glynda did this intentionally, made Kara grind her teeth in frustration.

With a flick of Glynda's wrist, the ballroom's doors swung open and immediately slammed shut behind them as they crossed the threshold. The night outside was as beautiful outside as it was inside. A night time fog was beginning to form, coating the school in dew, and dulling the long shadows cast by the moonlight. Beacon was in a rare moment of peaceful silence.

Save for Glynda's continued fuming, as she dragged Kara into the courtyard "When we get home young lady, you are in for a world of trouble!"

"Glynda, I-"

"Where were you thinking!?"

"If you would just-"

"Registering behind my back? Lying to my face?!"

Kara ground her teeth together and planted her bare feet on the ground. Glynda came to an immediate halt, like she'd hit a wall, and looked over her shoulder at Kara. The mask of calm on her face did little to ease Kara's nerves, because she knew that it was just that, a mask. But Kara had already broken through the thin ice, she might as well enjoy the water before it killed her.

Glynda gave one experimental tug, and when Kara didn't move, she sighed and released her wrist, folding both arms across her chest. "What were you thinking?"

Kara rubbed her wrist, though it wasn't hurt, and sighed, "That I could make a difference? That coming here would teach me how I could help this world? That I might finally be able to talk with individuals my age? Glynda, you and your coworkers are the only individuals I have consistently spoken to for almost seven years!"

"How did you manage to get registered?" Glynda demanded.

She wasn't even going to acknowledge what Kara had said, not yet. Alright, fine.

"I have assisted you with filing the paperwork before. I knew how to sneak it under your nose-"

"So you were manipulating me?"

"No!" Kara shouted, grabbing her head in frustration. Glynda lowered her glasses and raised a single brow at her adopted daughter. Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Please, just… let me explain."

Glynda's lips went tight for a moment, and she pushed her glasses back up, the specs gleaming in the pale moonlight. "Very well."

"Thank you."

Kara sighed and took a moment to collect herself. She'd only get one chance at this, best to make it count.

"We both know that I am… very different from the people on Remnant. I am not human like you Glynda, and because of how your world is, I am… powerful. More powerful than any huntress."

Kara tapped her index fingers together, "But after our last… argument, I realized that there was no convincing you. So I registered myself, so I could learn how to use those abilities to help people."

"Another year Kara," Glynda interrupted, though her voice was less angry. "That's all I said. One more year and then we would discuss it. You're only sixteen."

"I will be seventeen by the end of the first semester." Kara replied. "Besides, I could not wait another year. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of individuals across Remnant who need help. Every day I waited, more would be in trouble, so I took the initiative. That is what you have taught me, yes? To know when to take the initiative?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose, "In combat yes, but not when you choose to disobey me like that."

"I can control my powers, Glynda. I just want to know how to use them best, so I can finally help people. Ozpin understands that. Even Qrow understands!"

That made Glynda's eye twitch, "Yes, well, that dusty old crow would, wouldn't he?"

"At least he doesn't treat me like I'm made of glass." Kara grumbled. It was always like that with Glynda, constant concern over Kara's powers and place in the world, she was sick of it.

Glynda sighed, "I just want you to be safe Kara."

"I can juggle steel girders and dust rounds bounce off my skin." Kara kept her voice even,"I am safer than anyone on this planet."

"There's a lot in this world you don't know about, Kara. It's far more dangerous than you realize."

Kara scowled, "I know more about how dangerous this universe is than any human on this planet does, that is why I want to learn how to fight back! I am tired of being on the sidelines: Please, Glynda. Let me learn how to fight!"

Her words seem to strike a sensitive spot, as Glynda closed her eyes and put her hands on her hips and said nothing. After a moment, she brushed a few loose strands of hair from her face, and pointed back at the ballroom. "Look at the students in there Kara. All of them."

Kara blinked, but removed her glasses and looked at the building. Her vision slowly peeled away the layers of stone and steel structure, showing the students as they calmed down and prepared for bed. Some of them talked, some joked, and others drifted off without a second thought.

"You see them?" Glynda asked.

"Yes."

"Each and every one of those students is my responsibility. It's my duty, as a Huntress and as their combat instructor to prepare them for the monsters they'll face off academy grounds. I will push them harder and farther than they have ever been pushed before, so they have an idea of what the world will throw at them. At the same time, I have to make sure the environment they learn in is safe and familiar."

Kara felt her blood boil and clenched her fists tight, "So that is it then? I am too 'unfamiliar' for this school? Too dangerous!?"

Glynda didn't say a word.

I get to watch from the sidelines as people throw their lives away to protect others, just because you think I might lose control!? Is that it!? Kara was screaming now, and it felt good. This was beyond insulting, Glynda knew how much control she had over herself, she had personally helped Kara achieve it!

Glynda shook her head.

Answer me!

"Kara, I can barely understand Kryptonian when you speak it clearly. I can't understand you when you scream it like that."

Kara paused, and brushed her fingers against her throat. It happened, on occasion. Kryptonian was the language she was born into, raised under, and it would always be her base language. Occasionally, she would slip back into it when she was… flustered.

She cleared her throat, "S-sorry, I just… You know I can control myself Glynda. Why would you doubt me like that?"

Anger gave way to pain as she spoke. It hurt more than she realized to hear Glynda's doubt. Glynda's face twitched for a moment, and she adjusted her glasses. "It's not you Kara. I trust you, you are a strong, intelligent girl. You've taken to what I've taught you so well. It's your body I don't trust. Even now, you're still developing new powers, without any warning. Need I remind you what you did to the bathroom less than a month ago?"

Kara's face flushed, "I-I thought we agreed never to talk about that again?"

"I'm still finding sludge in the-"

"Point. Taken." Kara interrupted through tight teeth, and she let her shoulders slump.

That… was actually a better reason. No one had known what would happen when Kara arrived on Remnant. Remnant was a smaller, healthier planet than Krypton had been, with a youthful yellow star. There had simply been no time to determine all the effects it would have on her body, and Kara was still discovering new powers. She was practically invulnerable to damage, faster than a speeding bullet, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound. No walls could hide their secrets from her, and were she a darker person, she could kill with a look. If Kara kept developing new powers, someone might get caught in the crosshairs and get hurt. She wasn't sure how she'd live with herself if that was the case.

"That's why I wanted you to wait, Kara." Glynda put a hand on Kara's shoulder, "Let your body grow, let us see what surprises it has in store. Then, I would happily let you into Beacon, with open arms."

Kara hung her head, "I am just so tired of waiting. Another year, that is… so long."

Glynda frowned, "Yes… it is, isn't it?"

She rubbed her chin, face twisted into a thoughtful expression, "Perhaps we can… compromise."

Kara's head shot up, and she blinked, "I… what? You? Compromise? Do you even know what that word means?"

Anger flashed in Glynda's eyes and Kara shrank down, "I-I mean compromise! Of course! W-what did you have in mind?"

"Tomorrow is initiation day." Glynda explained. "Not everyone will pass. As powerful as you are, Kara, I think even you would find it challenging. So, here's my proposition. I will let you take the initiation test. If you pass, then you may attend Beacon Academy."

Kara's face lit up with excitement.

"But!"

It was quickly replaced with dread.

"If you fail, then you come home, and you wait until next year. I'm willing to give you the benefit of doubt Kara, and only because you've earned it from me."

"You… you mean that?"

The end of Glynda's lips twitched upward, "Just this once."

A freight train seemed to slam into Glynda's stomach, knock the wind from her lungs, followed immediately by a hydraulic press squeezing the life from her. Kara's backbreaking hugs were always a test of endurance, and exceedingly rare these days.

"Oooh thankyouthankyouthankyou!" Kara squealed, lifting Glynda off the ground like she was a toddler.

"Yes, you're...welcome…" she wheezed, patting Kara's back. "Can't...breathe!"

Kara released her adoptive mother, a mile wide smile on her face, "You won't regret this Glynda, by Rao I swear! That initiation test is good as passed."

Glynda rubbed her ribs and winced, "Yes, well, we shall see tomorrow. But you should get some rest. You'll need it for tomorrow."

Kara nodded, bouncing on the balls of her feet with giddy anticipation, "Right right, of course!"

She turned for the ballroom, then twisted back around to give Glynda another, much gentler, hug. Thank you, Glynda

Despite herself, Glynda wrapped an arm around the small girl and ran her fingers through her short blonde hair. You are welcome. Be safe.

Kara looked up at her with wide eyes, "Did you just…?"

Glynda adjusted her glasses and untangled herself from Kara's grip, "It's been a long day Kara Zor-El. I suggest you go."

She blinked once, then slipped her own glasses back on and nodded, "Of course. See you tomorrow, Ms. Goodwitch."

Glynda watched her adopted daughter jog back to the ballroom and slip silently inside. She sighed in relief when the door clicked shut, and began the long walk back to her office. It was going to be a long day tomorrow, and she still had much to prepare for.

Inside, Kara silently sped past her fellow students as a blur, avoiding their unwanted attention. She took the stairs two at a time and saw that Pyrrha had not left the balcony since Glynda had dragged Kara outside. The redhead blinked in surprise at Kara, "I didn't expect to see you again. Your… mom seemed pretty upset."

Kara waved off her concern, and plopped down onto the sleeping bag cross-legged, "Mother puts on a good show, but I can be very persuasive when the need arises. Sorry you had to see that."

"Family matters, in Mistral or Vale, can be messy. It's a universal constant." Pyrrha sighed.

"You have no idea," Kara muttered under her breath, than said aloud, "I have never actually been to Mistral though. Do… you mind telling me about it?"

A small smile crossed Pyrrha's face, "Well…"

* * *

The following morning was a chaotic mess. Kara and Pyrrha had made the less-than-ideal decision to talk late into the night, long past when everyone else had turned in for their well-deserved rest. Kara couldn't help it, she hadn't talked to anyone her own age in… well, ages, and most certainly not another girl, and Pyrrha seemed as absorbed in their conversation as she was. They both retired to sleep at around one or two in the morning, to Kara's horrified realization.

She was, in the best of times, not a morning person. With only a bare six hours of sleep, she found it difficult enough to simply focus when it was time to prepare for initiation. The worst part though, was that Pyrrha most certainly was a morning person. If she seemed affected by her short power nap, she certainly didn't show it and remained cheerfully peppy throughout morning.

Kara spent breakfast grumbling to herself and trying not to snap at her fellow students for simply existing within five meters of her self. Pyrrha at least, was not an annoying morning person, and made extra sure to tread lightly around Kara and her grumpiness.

At home, Kara would have just taken breakfast to her room and would have spent the next half an hour waking herself up. But at Beacon, she no longer had that luxury. Everyone ate breakfast together in the dining hall, close to one hundred students packed in a large, cavernous, dining hall, with acoustics that set her ears on fire. The fact that they were all future huntsmen only made it worse.

Huntsmen were notoriously big eaters, one huntsman could eat enough food in one day to satisfy a family of four. Granted, that was only after combat missions, but that didn't change the fact that every student was ravenously devouring as much food as they could before initiation began. Whatever was planned, trying to complete it with an empty stomach was begging for trouble.

So Kara suffered through breakfast until everyone was mercifully filed out to the locker rooms to store or gather any gear they didn't bring in their pack. In Kara's case, her locker would be a good place to store her backpack for now, until she was assigned an actual room, then she could change and would be ready for initiation. As she and Pyrrha walked into the locker room, Kara pulled a slip of paper out from her pocket and scanned it for her locker number.

"I am going to go and find my locker." She said. "We will meet up afterwards?"

"Sure," Pyrrha agreed, and the two went their separate ways.

The locker rooms, unlike the rest of Beacon, were surprisingly small and practical. They weren't massive looming devices that could conceivably hold an entire town inside them, instead being a relatively low-ceiling room lined with wooden benches and lockers, and clean marble floors.

In this case, the locker room was split into two rows of double-sided lockers, and more of them lined the walls. It didn't take Kara long to find her locker on the far side of the building, and after taking a change of clothes out of her backpack, she slung it into her locker and shut it with a hollow bang.

Kara quickly changed into something more practical for what she imagined was in store for her at initiation. Hiking boots, jeans, a light red t-shirt, and a light jacket with blue arms and a red main body. She made sure to keep her short blonde hair tied up in a bun, and cleaned her glasses, before heading off to find Pyrrha.

She took one step forward, then stopped and turned around to face her locker again, and opened it. There were three zippers on the bag and three compartments. The first two were open, but the third was still zipped tight. Kara opened it and fished out the lone item resting inside.

What she retrieved was a small piece of diamond shaped metal that comfortably fit in the palm of her hand, and had a metal chain welded to the flat end. Kara ran a finger over the alien but familiar metal and the crest emblazoned upon it. A crimson line that looped left then right in a stylized-S, to human eyes anyway. But Kara knew better; this was the crest of the House of El, and one of her few possessions she still had from Krypton.

Kara carefully turned it over to the back, where the metal was smooth, save for an inscription that had been hand carved in Kryptonian: For it is in search of a brighter tomorrow, that we never lose sight of hope, even in the darkest of times.

Something wet formed in her eyes, Kara wiped it away with her thumb and slipped the necklace on, careful to hide the crest under her shirt. The cool metal was a comforting presence against her chest, and she felt a little more confident than before.

Now that she was sure she had everything she'd need, Kara set off to find Pyrrha, not a difficult task. The locker room was small enough that Kara easily found Pyrrha within seconds, standing amongst a group of students, some familiar and others not. Pyrrha had just finished changing into her normal attire, a bronze corset, black shorts, armored boots and a bronze tiara, and was slinging her weapons onto her back.

A pale girl, about Kara's height and with snow white hair that matched her white clothes, was currently talking with her. "So, Pyrrha, have you given any thought to who's team you would like to be on? I'm sure everyone must be eager to unite with such a strong, well known individual such as yourself."

Pyrrha shut her locker and shrugged, "I wasn't too sure when I arrived, I was planning on letting the chips fall where they may, but I have a few ideas now."

"Well," the pale girl offered, "I was thinking maybe we could be on a team together."

"They are four person teams, correct?" Kara asked, walking up next to Pyrrha. She noted that the pale girl had a fresh scar over her left eye, and that said eye twitched when Kara showed up.

"A team of two pairs, yes," Pyrrha confirmed, "Though each academy has a different way of deciding pairs. Beacon always changes from year to year. But, if circumstances allow, I wouldn't mind being on a team with you and Weiss, Kara."

"Great!" The pale girl, Weiss said.

Kara scrunched up her face as she recognized the girls name. If she was correct in her guess, this girl was Weiss Schnee, the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, or SDC for short. A morally bankrupt institute that abused the rights of its workers in the name of profit and had swallowed up dozens of smaller companies to establish a near world-wide monopoly on Dust, the material the people of Remnant desperately depended on to power their cities and protect their homes.

The Schnee's were located in Atlas though, on the far northern continent of Solitas, and Atlas had it's own academy. Which raised the question of what a Schnee was doing in Beacon? There was more to this situation than initial appearances would suggest. Kara would tread carefully until she had more info to go on.

Not like it mattered though, as their conversation was interrupted by a familiar lanky blonde boy putting himself between Pyrrha and Weiss. Kara wondered if she was gonna see Jaune again. She had not wanted to see him like this though.

"You know what else is great?" he said, adopting a cocky tone that made Kara cringe, "Me, Jaune Arc. Nice to meet you."

Weiss rolled her eyes, "You again?"

To Kara's surprise, Pyrrha walked around and gave Jaune a friendly wave, "Nice to meet you, Jaune."

"Yeah, yeah." the boy ignored her, focused intently on the Schnee, "So, Weiss! Couldn't help but overhear your fondness of me the other day."

Weiss pinched her nose, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Don't worry, no need to be embarrassed!" Jaune added hastily. Kara sighed, the only one embarrassed here was Kara. This was painful to watch.

Jaune tried and failed to play it cool and said, "So, been hearing rumors about teams! I was thinking you and me would make a good one. What do you think?"

"Well, actually, the teams are comprised of four students each, so-" Pyrrha, started.

Jaune blinked and seemed to notice her for the first time, "Huh, you don't say. Well, hot-stuff, play your cards right and maybe you could join up with the winning team."

Kara shook her head and walked off. If she stuck around any longer, she was going to feel obligated to drag Jaune off by the ear and give him a good tongue lashing. She even almost felt offended for how he was acting towards Pyrrha, which was odd since she had just met the girl, but Pyrrha seemed to be unaffected by his words. The girl had a thick skin it seemed, thicker than Weiss anyway, who was already losing her temper with the boy.

"Just going to avoid that for now…" Kara muttered and saw another familiar face. "R-Ruby!"

The short girl was talking with another person, a girl with long fuzzy blonde hair and violet eyes, wearing an outfit that didn't leave a lot to the imagination. But when Ruby heard Kara's voice, she turned around and smiled, "Oh, Kara, it's good to see you again!"

"The feeling is similar," Kara returned the smile, "How have you been?"

Ruby's shoulders slumped and she groaned, "Ugh, overwhelmed, it's just hitting me ya know? I'm actually here, at Beacon. This is it, the first step. It's a lot to take in."

"Eh, you'll manage Rubes," the blonde girl said, and offered Kara a hand, "Names Yang, you've already met my little sister."

Kara shook her hand, "Ah, you are sisters? Not twins, I imagine."

Yang glanced at Ruby who shrugged. Kara sighed, "That was a joke. A bad one, I suppose."

"Riiight. Ruby wasn't kidding when she was talking about you. Still, thanks for helping her out before she got into some sort of shenanigans."

"I try." Kara shrugged, and added, "You have had no troubles since the headmaster's speech then?"

"Unless you count Weiss screaming at me, like, a lot, nope! I've been fine." Ruby said. She quickly looked from side to side for a moment then asked, in a hushed tone, "What about you? We all saw Glynda drag you off at bedtime. What did you do?"

Kara's lips tightened and she took a deep breath. The cat was already out of the bag, there was no real reason to keep it a secret, was it? Besides, Ruby seemed a kind enough girl, what was the harm in her and her sister knowing?

"It was nothing… major. Mother and I were just continuing an old argument and… What?"

Ruby's eyes were wide and Yang's mouth was wide in an 'O' of surprise. "You… Ms. Goodwitch has a daughter?"

Kara rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Yes, I have a very complicated family. But the argument itself was nothing to worry about, the matter was handled in private."

"Uh-huh," Yang said, eyes twinkling with mischief, "So, if you're Glynda's daughter, does that mean you run around whacking people with a riding crop too?"

Oh, like Kara hadn't heard that one before.

"No, I do not. In fact, I-"

Their conversation was interrupted with a solid 'thwump' of steel hitting steel, followed immediately by a surprised yelp. They all whirled around in time to see Pyrrha casually prying the end of her weapon, a long crimson javelin, from Jaune's hoody, and offering an apology before walking off.

Oh no.

Kara ran after Pyrrha, quickly catching up with the girl before she even left the locker room. "What was that about!?"

Pyrrha blinked in surprise at Kara, "You mean what just happened with Jaune?"

"You impaled him on a locker! Why!?"

At the very least, Pyrrha had the decency to look sheepish, "Um… because Weiss asked me to?"

For a moment, Kara could only stare at Pyrrha flabbergasted, and the expression clearly got to her. "I wouldn't have hurt him, and I think Weiss was feeling harassed…"

Kara gathered her composure and sighed. Huntsmen and huntresses could never respond to problems subtly, could they? At the very least, Pyrrha was right, Jaune was completely unharmed, besides his ego being bruised, and the fresh hole in his hoodie.

Still…

"After initiation, we need to have a talk about that."

"I'm sorry."

* * *

Kara still wasn't entirely happy with what Pyrrha had done, but hadn't had time to stew on it, as they were called to the Beacon Cliff shortly after she confronted her acquaintance. The fact that Pyrrha clearly hadn't intended to hurt Jaune made it harder for Kara to hold onto her grudge, but the fact that that was her first instinct raised far more questions that she would find an answer for later.

Now though, it was almost time for initiation to begin. Dozens of students stood gathered at the edge of Beacon Cliff, where Professor Ozpin and Glynda had been waiting for them. They had each been assigned an iron platform to stand on, and been told to wait. Above, the sky was clear, the sun shined brilliantly, and far, far below them, a massive green forest carpeted the land. The Emerald Forest, which surrounded most of the city of Vale, was a colossal ecosystem filled with Grimm and almost uninhabited by human life. What kept those monsters in check was Beacon itself. An academy filled with Huntsmen in training was a surprisingly good defense against the ravenous monsters, and so while the Emerald Forest was not the safest place for human habitation it was actually a very controlled area, relatively speaking.

It was also the perfect place for Beacon Initiation.

Kara stood between Jaune and Ruby, and eagerly bounced on the soles of her feet, the anticipation was killing her! She was ready for whatever they would throw at her, that spot at Beacon would be hers!

Professor Ozpin took a sip from the cup of coffee in his hand, and addressed the students once they were settled, "For years you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

"Now," Glynda added, "I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates today."

"What? Aw…" Ruby let out a dejected sigh. Several other students murmured in surprise. Kara however, had expected that, it sounded like something Ozpin would do, and it made sense. The sooner students were paired together, the sooner the real training could begin.

"These teammates," Ozpin explained, "Will be with you for the rest of your time at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

He took a sip of his cup, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Ruby made a choking noise, and another girl in the crowd said, "See! I told you!"

Ozpin continued, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die."

A sad, but harsh truth. Not everyone survived initiation, Kara had heard the stories and seen the effect it had on Glynda. Those had been long nights, and though it was subtle, she saw Glynda glance at her, expression unreadable.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Surprisingly, it was Weiss's hand that went up, "Professor, you say we're to pair with the first person we meet, yes? I counted the students here, there's an odd number."

"Very observant," Ozpin said. "This is indeed a rare year where we do not have an even number of students. Those without a partner, will fail the initiation. Should you make it to the cliff however, you will be considered for reapplication next year."

Now that got a stir out of the students. Most didn't reapply for a Huntsman academy. You either passed initiation, or died in the attempt. Kara couldn't help but duck her head guiltily, even as she felt Glynda drilling holes into her skull.

"If there are no more questions," Ozpin said, while the students were still reeling, "Take your positions, and we shall begin."

Kara shook off the cloud of depression that had quickly filled her thoughts, and readied herself. She had seen the mechanism built inside the devices, and had known what was coming even before Ozpin announced it. A landing strategy for her would basically just be a landing. A little fall wouldn't even scratch her.

The first mechanism went off, catapulting the first student into the air. Then the next, and the next, like a slow moving firing line, launching students toward the forest with such speed that they quickly vanished from sight. Yet while they were catapulted, Jaune raised his hand, "Um, sir? Question."

"Oh dear," Kara muttered under her breath, and tried and failed to tune out Jaunes questions. He had no idea what was in store for him, and Ozpin, as usual, was being exceptionally stubborn about divulging any useful information.

Kara looked over to see Yang get launched, whooping and hollering as she practically flew. She turned to Jaune as Ruby was went soaring next, and tapped his shoulder.

"What?"

Kara opened her mouth, then felt the platform beneath her sink down for a moment, and then it froze. Right as she looked down, she saw a flash of something purple, and then the ground vanished and she was soaring. Jaune's scream of surprise followed a moment later.

As the last of the students went soaring, Ozpin took a long sip from his mug and glanced at his assistant, "Is it my imagination Glynda, or did Kara's platform seem a bit… defective?"

Glynda took a unique interest in the Tablet (A larger, more powerful version of the scroll) she held in the crook of her arm, and said, "It seemed to be functioning perfectly fine, sir."

"Hmm, must be my imagination," the professor said as he took another sip, the ends of his lips twisting up in a knowing smile.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey look, a fast update for once! Admittedly, the only reason this chapter took so long was mostly due to the latter half. The argument between Kara and Glynda I had planned out in advance, and while I had a general idea of how I wanted the other half of this chapter to go, I had far less planned for it. My editor will be getting back to me later tonight too, so expect a properly edited version to go up much later tonight.**

 **All that said, what'd you guys think? Another good chapter? Anything I should be made aware of? Lemme know down below.**

 **In the meantime, expect chapter three sometime next week, as I've got work back to back all weekend. Until then guys, have a wonderful weekend!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Dynamic Duo**

Landing strategies could be a tricky business. Without the proper form and distribution of weight, a huntsman or huntress could put herself at serious risk of harming themselves on the landing. It took practice and a clear mind to pull it off successfully. At least, that was what Pyrrha had been trained to think.

Becoming a huntress was both an art and a job, and required a well-balanced equilibrium of both. Finding her limits and surpassing them had been the first step on the road of her training. It was only when she understood her abilities inside and out that she could truly begin experimenting with them. At the end of the day, it didn't matter who was stronger or faster or more creative, though those were certainly important factors; the warrior that knew herself could triumph, and a huntress that truly knew herself and her enemy, could never be bested in battle.

That was what Pyrrha believed, anyway.

As she reached the apex of her flight, she pulled her crimson sword Miló and bronze shield Akoúo̱ from their attachments on her back and held her shield before her like a battering ram. The forest below reached out to grab her with a hundred emerald talons, that shattered against her shields surface. One, two, three trees exploded before her in splinters, rapidly slowing her momentum. A fourth tree offered her its branches, and she accepted, landing feet first and rolling to a standing position on the branch.

With a flick of a switch, Miló's shape expanded and changed into a slender rifle that rested comfortably in her arms. Pyrrha quickly took stock of her surroundings, glancing left, then right, then upwards where her sights settled on a familiar flailing figure.

Jaune Arc very clearly did not have a landing strategy prepared as he clumsily flailed through the air towards the hard ground below. That just wouldn't do in Pyrrha's mind.

Another flick, and Miló changed shape once more. When designing the weapon in what felt like a lifetime ago, Pyrrha had initially planned to only equip it with two modes. A rifle form, and a javelin form. However, the metals used in its construction were surprisingly light and durable, and an added layer of versatility could be useful. So she had added the shortsword at the last second, and the addition to her fighting style had given her the edge against her opponent on more than one occasion.

In this case though, the javelin would do.

Pyrrha took aim as the spearhead formed, using her thumb as a sight to track the falling blond fool, and rested her finger on the trigger built into the hilt. Once she felt comfortable gauging the distance, she let her javelin fly, giving the trigger a quick squeeze. The end of the javelin barked, giving it an extra push that sent it soaring after Jaune.

He disappeared behind the treeline along with Miló. Pyrrha still heard the steel spearhead thunk solidly against a tree trunk. A moment later, Jaune's exhausted voice yelled, "Thank you!"

"I'm sorry!" Pyrrha shouted back. Not for saving him of course, but for the boy clearly being caught off guard. Whoever had trained him, and wherever that had been, clearly hadn't prepared him for this.

But still, he was okay, and now Pyrrha had an excuse to talk to this Jaune boy again. With her shield, she could confidently fend off most of the threats in the forest, but she would only be at her best with both weapons in hand. She peered toward the ground, a good twenty feet below, and prepared for the long fall when-

"Incoming!"

Pyrrha's attention had been focused on Jaune, that she had failed to see the other blonde missile streaking towards her position. She only had time to whirl around before Kara plowed through the base of the tree trunk, and both it and Pyrrha went tumbling to the ground. Like a stone, Kara skipped twice across the ground farther into the forest, and buried her face into a large outcropping of stone farther in the forest.

"Perfect landing…" she groaned into the ground, before pulling herself free of the earth and sitting on the ground rubbing her head. The ruined remains of her glasses rested at the bottom of the new crater she had created. Frustrating, but she would manage for now without them. There were spares in her locker, for just such an occasion.

Kara glared skyward for a moment, the most likely place Ozpin had his camera's hidden. It wasn't a matter of if the Professor was watching them, that was a given. If there was more time available, Kara knew she could easily find the hidden camera with ease. She settled instead for childishly sticking her tongue out at the sky. Sabotage was not a part of the deal, and Kara was going to have a nice and long conversation with Glynda when this was over, someone could have gotten hurt-

"Oh Rao!" Kara cursed, remembering that she wasn't the only one that had crashed and burned.

She rushed back to the initial impact site, the great tree laying on its side next to its splintered trunk, but there was no sign of Pyrrha. Kara felt her her heart jump into her throat, and she rushed to the fallen tree.

"Pyrrha!? Where are you!?" She cried, already wrapping her arms around the tree trunk, which was easily twice as wide as she was, and lifted it overhead without a hint of strain. If Kara's crash hurt Pyrrha in anyway, she'd… well, Kara wasn't sure exactly what she'd do, except be furious with Glynda, and herself.

"Kara," Pyrrha's voice came from behind, "I'm okay. You can… put the tree down."

The girl froze, and shot a quick look over her shoulder at Pyrrha. The redhead was surprisingly unruffled by the crash landing, and wore that friendly smile on her face, a hand on her hip. Kara then looked back at the tree in her arms and her eyes must have doubled in size.

The ground shook under the tree's impact, and Kara whirled to face Pyrrha, hands behind her back, "That was… er… um…. Just heat of the moment, not really anything… I…" she fumbled her words and sighed.

Pyrrha looked at the tree, then at Kara, her smile never dwindling, "I haven't seen very many people with an Aura that strong before, that's impressive. Or is it your Semblance?"

Kara forced a very fake laugh, "Hahahahahahahahaha! Aura, definitely Aura, yep! Super strong aura, super fast, sometimes I do not know my own strength! One moment things are normal then -crack!- breaking doors and windows without meaning! Haha!"

Despite all sense, Pyrrha seemed to buy Kara's excellently disguised lie at face value, nodding with her hands on her hips, "Makes sense, especially if your mother is as overprotective as you say she is."

Kara flashed a worried glanced skyward again and gulped, "Hehehe, yes. Of course. I…"

She sighed and let her arms drop to her sides, "Sorry for crashing into you like that."

Pyrrha walked up to her and squeezed the girl's shoulder "No hard feelings, Kara, it was an accident."

Kara smiled, "Thank you."

"It's what partners do." Pyrrha replied.

That sent a tingle of excitement down Kara's spine. Less than five minutes in, and she had already completed the first half of the initiation, and on accident too! She'd been honestly worried that everyone else would partner up before she did, and there would be another year of waiting before she could try again. The odds were in her favor today, maybe to make up for her horrible luck the previous day?

Whatever the reason, Kara didn't dwell on it, they still had to find the relics after all. "So, what is our first step, partner?" she asked, and couldn't hide her grin.

Pyrrha looked southwards, "That way. I saved that Jaune boy from a nasty crash in forest with my weapon. His landing strategy left a lot to be desired. I am surprised that he landed before you though. Weren't you ahead of him in the lineup?"

Kara scratched her head and shrugged, "Something went wrong with my launch pad, it was delayed, and that may have played a part in it."

What had also been strange to Kara, was that her flight arc had been all over the place. She should not have landed where she did. Her trajectory was wrong, she'd reached the peak of it and had just kept going for several dozen feet, then just dropped like a stone. Something had messed with her landing strategy, and Kara had a pretty good idea who was behind that, too.

"Well, no point dwelling on it at the moment." Pyrrha said, and added, "Are you good to move?"

Kara rolled her shoulders and nodded, "Lead the way… partner."

Oooh, that felt so cool to say!

The walk wasn't particularly difficult. Sure, bushes tugged at Kara's clothes, branches poked at her head, and a few roots tried to trip her up, but this particular area of the Emerald Forest lacked the dense underbrush and tangled floor of roots that so defined it. This made their trek easy, barely a mile long.

They found Jaune in a clearing, hanging from Miló twenty feet up an ancient giant of an oak tree. He struggled with the sword, trying to free it from his hoodie, with no success. The blade had sunk a good three or four inches into the old tree, and he lacked the leverage from his current position.

"Wow, how hard did you throw that thing Pyrrha?" Kara asked.

The redhead looked sheepish, "I had to make sure it reached him before he landed. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted, now can someone help me down please!?" Jaune cried from above.

The girls exchanged a look and nodded. Kara quite easily leaped up the trunk of the tree, digging her fingers into its bark for a purchase next to Jaune. The boy yelped in surprise at her sudden appearance, and screamed again when she plucked Miló from the tree, letting him fall free.

Pyrrha stood on the ground and caught Jaune, bridal style, in her outstretched arms. He let his head roll back loosely, and moaned. After giving him a minute to come to his senses, Pyrrha helped the boy stand. He rubbed his head and glanced at Kara warily. A slow understanding dawned on his face as he saw her standing with Pyrrha.

"You're already partners?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry." Pyrrha apologized.

"We can still find you a partner though!" Kara hastily added, "There are plenty of students, it shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Pyrrha nodded her agreement, "Of course, there are dozens of students; We'll find you a partner Jaune, don't worry."

"Thanks guys, that means a lot."

They gathered the equipment Jaune had lost on his landing, and returned to the forest. Pyrrha lead the way, with Jaune taking up the rear, and Kara marched between them. While they walked, Jaune filled them in on what had happened after Pyrrha had pinned him to the nearest tree. Apparently, Ruby and the Schnee girl were nearby, and had left Jaune to his fate. They briefly toyed with the idea of meeting up with them, but with no idea where they might be, chasing after them would be a recipe for disaster. Aside from those two though, Jaune hadn't seen anything of note. Kara found that a touch hard to believe.,

"You have not seen anyone or anything? Not even other students?"

Jaune shrugged, "Not a thing. Why?"

"The Emerald Forest is usually swarming with Grimm," Pyrrha explained. "And given your… situation, you might have attracted something."

She thought for a moment, and added, "But on the other hand, I doubt our professors would throw us into the most infested part of the woods. There's providing a challenge, and then there's trying to kill us."

"That is definitely something Ozpin might do." Kara mumbled under her breath, then said aloud, "You are absolutely sure you saw nothing? No Formidae Lupus, or Formidae Ursus?"

Jaune stared at Kara blankly. Pyrrha peered over her shoulder at her with an equally questioning expression. Kara sighed, "Beowolves or Ursa?"

"Oh, no. Why didn't you just say that to begin with?"

"Proper terms, no one ever uses proper biological terms." Kara grumbled to herself.

Pyrrha shoved branches and bushes out of their as she marched, not sparing a glance behind her as she walked. "The Grimm have those names for a reason. It's easier to say than yell their scientific names in the heat of battle."

That was no excuse to Kara, but she didn't push the issue. There were more pressing concerns at the moment. "Maybe, but should we not be concerned? We have not seen a single Grimm since we landed. I find that more unnerving than the alternative."

"Maybe we're just lucky?" Jaune offered. "I-I mean, it's just the three of us here, what're the odds we'd attract the Grimm?"

"The smaller the party, the more likely the Grimm will focus on it. They will avoid villages when in smaller numbers, but a party of our size should not cause hesitation." Kara answered.

Jaune's eyes went wide and he audibly gulped at the implications. "O-oh… Alright… Well maybe Pyrrha was right? Less Grimm in this part of the woods?"

Kara rubbed her chin, "I suppose…"

"Worrying about it would certainly not be the best course of action." Pyrrha added. "We should focus on finding the relics and finish line. If we encounter Grimm, then we will worry if needed."

Sound enough logic for Kara; there was no point in worrying about the potential of an attack, so long as they remained vigilant. If they worried too much, that could very well attract Grimm as well. The creatures were drawn to negative emotions, and undue anxiety would be a beacon to any beasts nearby.

So Kara dropped the subject, choosing to swing her gaze around for any sign of the monsters. Her sight easily pierced the thick foliage of the forest in all directions, it was no hindrance to her. When she saw no Grimm nearby, she felt a measure of relief, and continued marching.

Ahead, Pyrrha pushed a branch out of her face, and released it without warning. Kara's short height let it swing right over her head. Jaune, however, was not so lucky, and received a face full of tree branch.

"Bwaah!" he yelped, and fell on his rear, clutching at the few thin cuts on his face.

Pyrrha whirled around in surprise, "Jaune?! I'm sorry!"

"Are you okay?" Kara asked. A branch should not have stunned him like that, but the boy seemed to have trouble staying on his feet.

Jaune chuckled sheepishly and removed his hand, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a few scratches."

He pushed himself up to his feet while Pyrrha approached him, a quizzical expression on her face. Kara mirrored it, and her partner asked what the young Kryptonian was thinking, "Why didn't you use your Aura?"

"My what?"

"By Rao, he cannot be serious," Kara muttered under her breath.

"Your Aura" Pyrrha repeated.

The blank expression on his face made Kara shake her head and look skyward, "He is serious."

Pyrrha shouldered her shield and asked, "Do you know what Aura is Jaune?"

He scoffed, "Wha-? Of course I do… Do you know what Aura is?"

"A supposed manifestation of the human soul that protects Huntresses and gives them their strength and speed." Kara answered for her.

Pyrrha raised a brow at her partner, and Kara shrugged, "There is a lot of metaphysical and spiritual theories on it. I personally find them to be quite silly."

"It's more than just that." Pyrrha said. "Aura gives us the strength to bear our duty, and be our shield. Every living thing has one, even plants and animals."

"That does not change what it is." Kara replied. "A biological force field that strengthens your physical body as well."

Pyrrha sighed, "Yes, you could put it that way. But it is Aura that separates us from the monsters."

"The Grimm?" Jaune asked.

She looked back at him and smiled, "Yes, the creatures of Grimm. The Manifestation of Anonymity. The dark to our light."

"Which is why we fight them."

"It's more than just why, it's about knowing. Understanding the dark and light helps us manifest our Aura. Everyone has some of both."

Kara rolled her eyes. She never understood the spiritual emphasis humans put on Aura, and by Rao, was it annoying to her analytical mind.

"But it's still technically a force field."

"If you want to look at it that way, yes." Pyrrha sounded more amused by Kara's stubbornness. The girl folded her arms and huffed.

Pyrrha turned back to Jaune and approached him, "Now, close your eyes and concentrate." she placed a hand on the side of her face, resting her thumb on his forehead and spreading her fingers across his injured cheek.

Jaune stood awkwardly, but did as Pyrrha said, shutting her eyes. Kara watched, curious about what her partner was doing. Pyrrha closed her own eyes for a moment, and took a slow, deep breath. Her eyes shot open the iris visibly shrinking. A brilliant red glow flowed from her to Jaune's , who also began to glow, a white to Pyrrha's red. Kara felt transfixed as she watched, and could've sworn she felt the ground shake.

Pyrrha spoke again, but her voice sounded… different. As though a chorus followed her every word a second too slow, "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee…"

The glow surrounding Pyrrha vanished, and the girl slumped away from Jaune. "Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, concerned.

"I'm okay." Pyrrha assured her. "I used my Aura to unlock yours, but the energy that protects you now is your own."

She smiled as the cuts on Jaune's face faded away, leaving unharmed skin in it's wake. "You have quite a lot of it."

Jaune looked at himself, even as the glow faded, and couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Wow!"

Pyrrha looked at her partner, "Pretty impressive for 'just a forcefield', wouldn't you- Kara?"

The girl was crouched with a hand on the ground, brow furrowed in confused thought. "None of you feel that?"

"Feel what?"

Kara frowned, "The ground, it is… shaking. Not like an earthquake, but… almost as if there is something large moving nearby. I believed it to be your silly ceremony, but-"

The nearest tree exploded from the ground, cutting off Kara mid-sentence. Pyrrha grabbed Jaune, dragging him away from the falling trunk. Kara shoved it aside with both hands, and faced the direction it had come from.

Something large slammed into her, sending her flipping head over heels into a nearby tree. Branches snapped and cracked against her skin, and gravity quickly dragged her back to earth, only for a forked branch to catch her ankle. The breath was knocked from Kara's lungs, and her vision flashed with stars.

Wood snapped and groaned, quickly joined by the crack of gunfire. Pyrrha yelled something at Jaune, and something screamed at her. No, not screamed, hissed. A horrific sound, like a thousand nails on a chalkboard. Kara blinked her vision clear, and the world came into focus, albeit upside down, and she saw their mysterious attacker.

It was the size of a Taijitu, a snake-like Grimm longer than a bus, and shared the same general shape, but it had a drill shaped beak covered in ugly bony plates. The rest of its serpentine body was similarly armored. The rest of its trunk vanished into the ground itself, where the tree had once been.

"What in Rao's name...?" Kara wondered.

She saw a flash of red and bronze. Pyrrha slid under the creature's large head, popped back to her feet, and launched herself onto the back of its head, slipping her blade between the armored plates of its skull and spine. A thousand screaming hisses burst from the creature, and it whipped its neck back and forth. To Pyrrha's credit, she managed to keep her grip for a moment.

The Grimm screeched in frustration and retreated back into the ground. Pyrrha pulled her sword free and jumped to the ground and rolled to her feet facing the hole where the Grimm had vanished.

"What was that!?" Jaune cracked.

Kara snapped the branch holding her above the ground with a solid kick, and crashed to the ground on her back. She blinked her eyes and saw Jaune standing over her, offering a hand. She gladly accepted it and rubbed her head, "I am not sure. But I do not think it is gone, either."

The faint vibrations still shook the ground, this Grimm may have vanished from sight, but it hadn't left yet. Pyrrha slowly back stepped until she stood next to them. "Kara's right. We should stick together and head for the temple as soon as possible."

"Shouldn't we stop this thing first?" Jaune asked. "I mean, what if it attacks again-"

Again, the ground exploded, the Grimm hurling its drill-shaped beak towards the trio. But this time, Kara was ready. Adrenaline surged into her system, tightening her reaction time, boosting her senses, and preparing her for the monster before her. The world moved in perfect clarity for Kara, she had all the time in the world, figuratively speaking.

She balled one hand into a fist, settled back on her right foot, and flung a hard right hook at the Grimm. Bone shattered, trees exploded, and a chunk of forest before them went crashing to the ground. The world slipped back into it's normal rhythms once more, the Grimm screeching in surprised agony.

When Kara used her powers, dug deep and let them fly, she could do amazing things. Her speed was limitless, her strength unmatched, her senses super-human. Most of the time she kept them repressed, there was simply too much to process at all times, but in a fight for her life, she could let her power slip through in short bursts.

Jaune gaped at her, "How… did you just…. What!?"

Kara blushed and shrugged, "Good timing?"

Pyrrha's sword expanded into it's javelin shape, and she approached the Grimm. "Perfect timing. We should finish this creature now, before it retreats."

The Grimm pulled its shattered head off the ground, and swung around to face them. The left side of its face was caved in, with a neat fist imprint below its empty eye sockets. Much of its beak was a crumpled mess, and it struggled to hold it closed. The Grimm's body trembled with impotent rage, and it screeched at them with all its might. Its face split open in quarters, x-shaped, revealing hundreds of small snakelike Grimm within its gaping maw. It lunged at Pyrrha, but the redhead jumped aside, thrusting Miló deep into its uninjured eye.

The beast recoiled, hissing and screaming, but it did not retreat like before. Kara tensed, ready to jump into the fight, when she felt the vibrations return, in greater number this time. Jaune and Pyrrha froze, and looked to their feet in surprise. Trees shuddered and groaned, leaves raining from their branches, and the ground itself heaved.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Kara rushed forwards, grabbing Pyrrha by the back of her shirt and dragging her away from the Grimm. A geyser of earth exploded into the air, raining dirt onto the trio. When it cleared, Kara felt her heart jump into her throat. Now she knew what this Grimm was.

Its main body was massive, easily the size of a two story building, and nearly as long as a city block. It took the shape of a leonine figure, with long powerful legs that ended in wicked bone-white claws that made deep furrows in the earth. Plates of bone covered its flanks and spines rose from its back. Its long armored tail cleared trees behind the monster, but the most important of its features was its head. Or rather, heads.

Eleven more of the snakelike creatures joined the original, each as large and imposing as the last. They swirled around one another in coordinated swarms of scale and bone, a sea of vicious hissing serpents. Sixty-eight scarlet eyes focused on the trio, and the heads slowed until they were all poised to strike, letting loose a low hiss like knives on a cutting board.

Pyrrha stepped back, eyes wide with shock, "What is that?"

"Hydralisk," Kara said, her voice small.

"We should run."

* * *

Glynda paced back and forth on their ridge, unable to rip her eyes from her tablet. The footage was unmistakable, that Grimm, that Hydralisk, it was real and it was in the Emerald Forest. Most importantly though, it was after Kara and her students. They weren't ready for a creature of that size and power.

"This is too much." Glynda declared. "We need to pull the plug, evacuate the students. We'll have the staff deal with the Hydralisk and initiation can be held another day."

She looked up at her superior, who was motionless, "Ozpin?"

The headmaster glanced at her over his shades, "It's a message Glynda, a very clear message. She knows about our young friend and what she's capable of. And somehow, she knew that Kara would be here today."

Glynda's eyes went wide behind her glasses, "All the more reason to evacuate them now! Initiation is meant to challenge the students, it's not meant to intentionally kill them! A Hydralisk is far beyond their abilities."

"Far beyond a huntsmen's abilities." Ozpin replied. He leaned heavily on his cane for support, and winced at the pain in his leg, "But we both know that Kara is far beyond any huntsmen Glynda. She can best the Hydralisk."

"No." Glynda shook her head, furiously, "Sir, I have agreed with many things you have done in the past, I've stood by your actions time and time again. But this is too far. It's not…"

Her voice faltered and she bit her lip, "That… That's my daughter out there! She's not been trained for this."

Ozpin turned to Glynda and fixed her with a calm expression. Glynda's protests died in her throat. Ozpin pushed his shades back into place with his forefinger and said, "And we know exactly why that is, don't we Miss Goodwitch?"

She ground her teeth together and Ozpin continued "Perhaps Kara would have faltered, if she were alone. But she stands with friends, allies of her own. They'll give her the drive to push past her fears and doubts. She can defeat the Hydralisk."

He looked back at the tablet in his hand, which showed Pyrrha and Kara sprinting from the Hydralisk, with Jaune thrown over the latter's shoulder. It plowed through trees with ease and was slowly gaining on the two, even though Kara could easily have escaped it on her own.

"For the sake of her fellow students, she'll have to."

The screen of Glynda's tablet cracked under her white-knuckled grip, but she kept her voice calm. "If anything happens to her Ozpin, there is no force on Remnant that will protect you from me. Am I clear, sir?"

"Crystal, Glynda." Ozpin replied.

"I'd expect nothing less, and want nothing more."

 **A/N: Bleh, this took longer to write than I wanted. I've been suffering a crisis of confidence in my writing lately, and more importantly, stress from College preparation has been eating away at me.**

 **But, I got this chapter done. I sat my butt down and forced myself to write, and here it is! So, here's the plan. I'm going to try, I don't guarantee anything, to update this story every Monday, after next week, as I have a trip to Monterey planned this weekend. I can't guarantee anything, but at a minimum, it should be one new chapter every Monday.**

 **So, I'll see you all either on the 14th, or 21st. Until then!**

 **P.S. A guest suggested this, so here's a list of Kara's primary powers:**

 **Super Strength**

 **Super Speed**

 **Invulnerability**

 **X-Ray Vision**

 **Heat Vision**

 **Enhanced Reflexes**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Living on the Edge**

"Could everyone just chill out for two seconds before something crazy happens again!?" roared Yang. Initiation had started out simple enough for her. She'd had a blast landing in the forest, beat up a few bear-grimm, and had paired up with that mysterious dark haired girl Blake. The rest of initiation had been smooth sailing up to the temple, snuggled away along a cliff edge and surrounded for miles by forest. Finding the relic had been easy.

Then another two students, Ren and Nora, showed up. They couldn't be more opposites of each other; Ren was calm and quiet, Nora was loud and energetic. Nothing Yang couldn't deal with, and they seemed nice despite their quirks.

That was when the craziness unfolded.

What had felt like a sudden hurricane hit them, tearing up long strips of grass and tipping over trees. A quick look up had revealed that, no, it wasn't a storm that came out of nowhere, but another Grimm. A Nevermore specifically. Yang saw them all the time back home, but this one was huge, bigger than any Nevermore she'd seen before.

As if that wasn't bizarre enough Ruby and that girl Weiss fell off the Nevermore and crashed into their little group. That had been the final straw and chaos had broken loose. Nora broke out into giggling insanity, Weiss and Ruby started yelling at each other, and the Nevermore kept circling them while screaming like a banshee. It hadn't taken long for Yang's temper to reach its boiling point.

On the plus side though, her outburst shut everyone up for a moment. Weiss and Ruby glared daggers at each other, but they had at least stopped arguing, and Nora was quiet again, bouncing on her feet while longingly watching the Nevermore swoop by again.

Yang ran a hand over her face, "It's never going to end. Okay, now that everyone's chill, can we focus on the giant evil crow-demon in the sky?"

"We should probably find cover." Blake suggested. "A Grimm that large will probably shrug off whatever we throw at it."

Ren, who had been near silent, finally spoke up, "The endzone is just a mile north. We don't have to defeat the Nevermore to pass initiation."

"He's got a point." Weiss agreed, taking her eyes off Ruby.

"Aw, come on," Nora whined. "We can handle it!"

Yang cracked her knuckles and grinned, "Yeah, there's six of us and only one of it. We can kick its butt easy. What's the worst that could happen?"

The edge of clearing suddenly exploded into wooden shrapnel, trees obliterated by something very big. Kara and Pyrrha came sprinting out of the debris cloud, Jaune still thrown over the shoulder of the former. Behind them, a giant multi-headed snake… thing, came barreling behind them, screeching bloody murder.

Yang's jaw fell open from sheer shock.

"How long have they been running from that… thing?" Blake asked, her voice deadpan.

Kara waved her free arm frantically as they ran, and screamed, "Don't just stand there, move!"

The Nevermore squawked overhead and made a dive for the trio like a giant feathered missile. It spread its wings wide, filling them with air, and soared past them, its talons snatching at air. Pyrrha slid under the reaching claws and smoothly sprung back to her feet without missing a beat.

Kara ducked, a claw clipping the back of her skull. She stumbled and Jaune went flying from her grasp while she face-planted.

"Kara!"

The girl clutched at the back of her head and rolled onto her back. A shadow fell over her, and Kara slowly looked up. The Hydralisk had stopped pursuing Pyrrha and Jaune and towered over her, its many heads all locked onto the prone Kara, the eyes burning with a livid, almost human hatred. Kara scrambled backwards on her hands, just in time to avoid being flattened.

One of its large clawed paws came crashing down where she was just a second ago, flattening stone and dirt under its mass. It screamed and all twelve heads lunged at her. Kara was fast, faster than anyone she had met. The first head she dodged with contemptuous ease, and ducked under the second. She jumped over the third, but the fourth caught her on the descent.

The world tilted and whirled around her as the Hydralisk clamped its jaws around her leg. Kara screamed as she was whipped up and flung high into the air. The ground below shrank, her fellow students tiny ants compared to the Hydralisk that raised its heads towards her with mouths wide open.

There was a furious squawk and the Nevermore swooped past her, snatching her out of the air with its claws. Kara yelped, the Hydralisk screeched, and the Nevermore let out what could only be described as a mocking caw as it carried its prize away.

The large size of the Nevermore meant that it didn't need to flap its wings as it began a fast glide away from the clearing. That was a mistake.

Without constantly being buffeted, Kara finally regained her senses and quickly took in her situation. The talons were wrapped as tight as they could be around her, but the size of the Nevermore meant that this was still a comparatively loose fit for Kara. If she had been Pyrrha's size, or possessed a body like Yang's, she would have had a harder time freeing her arms. But for once, her petite body worked in her favor.

Kara put a hand on either side of the leathery, clawed feet, and shoved hard. Bone snapped, the Nevermore screeched in surprised agony, and she was falling once more. She heard, rather than saw, the Nevermore begin to swoop after her, but it would take some time for it to turn around without simply falling out of the sky, a problem Kara didn't have.

No, her problem was the Hydralisk below, still heavily focused on devouring her, for some reason. She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Either try to land feet first, picking up momentum and speeding past the Hydralisk's waiting jaws, or try and slow herself enough to direct her fall away from the Grimm, but giving the Nevermore time to come after her again.

She hadn't considered the outlying variables, though.

Gunfire and explosives peppered the Hydralisk's flank, catching the attention of most of its heads. Three remained to watch her as she fell, until a grenade detonated against the beast's side. All twelve heads flinched from the surprise impact and screeched, turning their full attention to the rest of the students.

Kara had her opening and she took it.

She tried going for a less destructive landing, and succeeded for the most part. She rolled when she landed, her momentum carrying her across the field in a series of tumbles. Her face met earth and she proceeded to eat a mouthful of grass as she came to a slow stop.

"Ewm!" she propped herself up wiped her mouth clean. Her landing strategies definitely needed work, when this was over. More gunfire filled the forest and she could already make out the odd, almost ozone-like smell of Dust discharge filling the air. The Hydralisk screeched and someone shouted back an angry reply.

Kara struggled back to her feet and turned to rejoin the battle.

She stopped short when she saw the chaotic mess that had unfolded.

Pyrrha had linked up with the rest of the students, and they were mounting a counterattack against the Hydralisks. Pyrrha thrust the tip of her spear between a pair of plates and the Hydralisk's heads recoiled with a roar. She sidestepped the other head that tried to blindside her, and the blade of her spear sparked against its armor. Yang barraged another head with an unceasing salvo of crackling punches, her entire body aglow with an eerie burning gold. The Schnee girl danced around attacking heads, leaving glyphs of Dust in her wake, traps that went off when a head passed over them, stunning the creature. A flash of roses exploded beside her, and Ruby flew at the nearest head, hooking what could only be described as a colossal crimson scythe under its neck and cutting into the flesh beneath its natural armor.

All twelve of the Hydralisk heads roared their frustration, that they be denied their prize, their kill, and that the huntsmen were actually managing to harm it.

Kara stood there in awe; this was what huntsmen could do. No hesitation, no fear. They bravely stood against the Hydralisk, this powerful monstrosity that threatened their lives, and refused to back down. It was inspiring.

But it was also in vain.

Though the blows that slipped through its armor left thin burning red wounds, most of their weapons harmlessly scraped off its hide, or only stunned the beast. Kara's blow had left one of its beaks damaged, but the Hydralisk heads still outnumbered the assembled students and it kept the injured head in reserve, observing the battlefield for any more surprises. The students could, for the moment, hold their own, but the Hydralisk would overwhelm them, with sheer durability and persistence. Already, their line in the sand was faltering.

One of the beast's heads swung wide, knocking Nora aside Her weapon, a hammer with a grip longer than Kara was tall, went soaring out of her grip and landed in the ruins. The Hydralisk's head rose up, beak parted to reveal the hundred of squealing, squirming mouths within. Cords of muscle rippled with barely contained energy, like a spring ready for release.

The girl could only look up as the head whipped towards her.

Only for something to stop it dead in its tracks, shaking the ground and sending torrents of pain along its neck and body. All twelve heads recoiled in surprise and pain. The redhead blinked a few times. One moment she was about to become Grimm chow, the next, Kara had appeared, and stopped the Hydralisk head dead in its tracks.

She pinned its beak closed with both hands, and growled with effort to keep its head pinned. The heels of her feet dug furrows into the ground and the air trembled with unreleased energy. For a brief moment, the fighting stopped as it was now the turn of everyone present to gawk at Kara.

This was the closest she had ever been to a Grimm, and never for this long. Even as Kara struggled to maintain her grip on the Hydralisk's oversized beak, she could make out the innumerable scars that lined its skull. Old bullet holes, scorch marks, and ancient scars painted a tale of death and destruction that had followed this Grimm through its existence. It was an old creature, and Kara knew that the older Grimm grew, the greater their intelligence.

Its eyes flashed up towards Kara, glowering with a hatred that was all too familiar. Kara flinched, and lost her grip. The Hydralisk knocked her into the temple ruins, stone shattering against her back. The Grimm bellowed triumphantly, and turned its attention back to the rest of the students, and chaos resumed.

Kara's head swam as explosions and gunfire exploded less than thirty feet away, and the ground shook beneath the Hydralisk's feet. A hand wrapped around her arm and helped her to her feet. When the lights stopped flashing in her eyes, she saw it was Jaune, with a concerned look on his face.

"You okay Kara? That was a nasty hit."

She rubbed her back, and sighed. Her jacket was starting to tear under the strain. The downside of her abilities was that, unlike a Huntsmen, her invulnerability did not extend to her clothes. Far too many shoes and pants had been destroyed as a result of her super speed and combat with the Grimm would prove no different.

Other than that though, she was unharmed as usual. She nodded at Jaune, "I am okay. Why are you not fighting with the others?"

Jaune bit his lip and looked at the chaos. Kara immediately understood. "I see."

"Yeah. I wouldn't even know where to start trying to help."

"The Hydralisk is too strong to defeat with brute force alone." Kara said. "What they are doing is only going to slow it down, and if the Nevermore returns, we will be overrun."

"Well I've got a few ideas, but this thing just shrugs off everything we throw at it." Jaune replied.

Kara frowned, eyes still on the fight. The thick armor protected it from most of their blows, and even the few chinks in it were hard to get at and inflict any serious damage. But there was something important that Kara had seen after the Nevermore had dropped her, and a part of her said it was related to Pyrrha's fight with the first head back in the forest.

Someone managed to land a blow between the plates and all twelve heads flinched, then snarled angrily. The gears suddenly clicked in Kara's head and she shouted, "I have it!"

Jaune gave her a sidelong glance, "Um, you have what?"

"I have the weakness of the Hydralisk!" Kara said, excitedly. "Its reactions when harmed suggest that the nervous system for each head is not a separate entity, but a shared collective. That is how they remain so coordinated despite their numbers, and why they all react so aggressively to injury."

Understanding slowly dawned on Jaune's face, "If we hurt one head, we hurt them all!"

"Exactly!" Kara started to beam, but paused, "I just… am not sure how we could exploit such a weakness."

Kara had been raised with an analytical scientific mind. She could analyze the Grimm, find weaknesses in their biological structures and behavior, but applying that in a tactical situation was beyond her. It was one reason she had come to Beacon in the first place, to learn how to apply her scientific knowhow on the battlefield. Now she had a chance, and she was drawing a blank.

Aside from punching the Hydralisk really hard, Kara just had no idea how to hurt it.

"I think I have a plan," Jaune declared.

Kara blinked, "You do?"

"Part of one, anyway." he amended, and drew his sword from his scabbard, which unfolded into a large white heater shield. "Just follow my lead."

Together they charged into the chaotic fray. A grenade detonated into pink smoke inches from Kara's face, shrapnel harmlessly bouncing off her. Jaune raised his shield as a chunk of earth exploded, showering them both in dirt, and then they were in the thick of it. A Hydralisk head immediately took note of them and shot towards them.

"Kara, grab it!"

She didn't argue, she did as he said, rushing in front of Jaune and stopping the head in its tracks before it could strike, making sure to avoid its eyes. Quick as a flash, Jaune sprinted up beside her and buried his sword up to the hilt into the base of its head where the plates parted. The Hydralisk screamed in agony, it's heads recoiling in surprised pain. Kara held tight to the twelfth head, making sure it couldn't slither away like the rest.

It was only brief, but it bought them precious seconds for Jaune to shout to the others, "Everyone, focus on this head, we've got it pinned down! We only need to hurt one head to hurt the whole thing!"

There wasn't time to argue with Jaune, it was obvious Kara couldn't hold it forever, its wild thrashing and muffled roaring was taking all of her effort. They rushed to help, seven trainee Huntsmen and Huntresses, bearing down on the isolated head. Grenades exploded against its armor, bullets cracked plating, and Pyrrha and Weiss stabbed their blades deep into the flesh of the Hydralisk.

The beast howled with impotent rage, its eleven heads recoiling together with each blow. Such pain focused in one area was the equivalent of ripping someone's arm apart. All it could do was let its fury be known.

This ferocious barrage could only last so long before something gave, either the neck of the Hydralisk, or Kara's grip. Unfortunately, Kara's grip gave way first. The head broke free, smashing through the ruined temple like it was styrofoam, and wailing against the ground with blind fury. The Hydralisk threw up a maelstrom of dirt and debris too intense for anyone to penetrate, and forcing them to back off.

But it also meant that the Grimm wasn't focused on any of them.

Pyrrha backed up alongside Jaune and Kara, her eyes wide at the spectacle before her, "What happens now?"

Kara leaned over trembling, hands on her knees, and took slow deep breaths. "The… The Grimm is distracted. I say we flee for the landing zone. I… I do not think I can do that again."

"Aw, do we have to?" asked Nora, visibly drooping at the suggestion.

"We threw everything we had at it," Yang pointed out, "And only made it mad. Plus, it's not the only Grimm we have to worry about. Look who's back."

Heads turned up to see the Nevermore had winged its way back towards the ruins, fury burning in its eyes. They had barely fought off the Hydralisk, with the Nevermore in tow they wouldn't last five seconds.

"Okay, fair point." Nora said, meekly.

Beside her, Ren pointed towards the cliff, his face deceptively calm, "We should go."

Their exit was through more ancient ruins, what may once have been a main street in a now-forgotten city. Stone buildings lay crumbling to their left and right, blocking any alternate escape routes. The only way out was forward, towards an aging stone temple that floated on the surface of a fog filled ravine. Behind it, a sheer cliffside rose two or three hundred feet straight up, and atop that would be their exit point.

The Hydralisk barreled after them in great galloping strides, spreading its many heads wide in a living net behind them. It grasped at ruined pillars of stone and sent them hurtling end over end after Kara and the others. One overshot and silently vanished into the ravine. The other came crashing down towards Nora and Jaune, and Kara turned to intercept, but it was a pointless gesture.

Jaune screamed in a less than masculine manner, but Nora just grabbed her hammer and grinned. Kara had to do a double take at what she saw next. Nora's hammer met the end of the pillar, and there was an explosion of hot pink smoke. The stone exploded into multiple pieces that harmlessly pattered to the ground around the two.

Nora grabbed the gaping Jaune by the arm and said, "Enough gawking, let's move!"

They ran after everyone else as fast as they could, while up front, Yang and her partner made it onto the temple bridge with the Schnee girl and Ruby in hot pursuit. A shadow darkened the sky, and the Nevermore dove from the sky towards the bridge. Ruby scrambled to a stop right as the Nevermore plowed through the bridge.

Bricks of stone shattered as the bridge gave way beneath her feet, shunting her into the bottomless pit below.

"I got you!" Kara grabbed Ruby by the hood and skirt, and flung her over the gaping chasm into Yang's waiting arms. The stonework continued to crumble and Kara twisted to jump back onto solid ground. A brick slipped free beneath her feet, and she kicked pointlessly at air. Kara's stomach jumped into her throat as gravity began to drag her towards the waiting abyss.

Someone grabbed her hands before she could vanish over the side, and Kara jerked to a stop. Below her, debris plummeted into the ravine without a sound. Kara shuddered and shakily looked up at her rescuer, or rather, her rescuers.

Jaune and Pyrrha pulled together and helped Kara back onto solid ground. Jaune let out a heavy groan, "Ugh, you're a lot heavier than you look."

"Thanks." Kara grumbled and looked back towards the temple.

The Nevermore circled it like a hawk circled its prey. Ruby and company were like ants compared to it, and their attacks towards it were about as effective. Kara wanted to help, but there was a more immediate pressing matter.

She turned back to see the Hydralisk had them cornered, still holding its heads in that net-like position so they couldn't slip by it. Half of their firepower was trapped on the temple side now, and they were cornered against a seemingly bottomless abyss, they didn't stand a chance against the Hydralisk, and the beast knew it. There was a sick, almost human amusement that gleamed in its many eyes, yet it made no move to attack.

"Why isn't it attacking us?" Nora asked.

"It knows we can't escape but that Kara can hurt it," Jaune answered, "and that thing is smart enough to recognize a threat when it sees it."

He was right, Kara realized. Out of all of them, it was her that had inflicted the most damage against the Hydralisk. She was strong, stronger than anyone else here, and her blows had damaged its natural armor. While its many heads gave it a numerical advantage, Kara was more than capable of matching the individual strength and speed of its many heads, and there was so much more she could do aside from that.

A familiar, almost painful burning sensation began to build at the back of Kara's eyes, but she shut them and suppressed the feeling until it faded away. Such an ability was powerful, but one errant twitch of her eyes, a quick twist of her head, and what was a potent weapon against their enemy would turn into a brutal slaughter of her friends. For now, she would have to restrain herself.

"W-what do we do then?" she asked.

The others were silent, but Kara saw Jaune's eyes flicker from the Hydralisk, to the environment around it, and then to the ravine behind them. The boy wasn't much of a fighter, Kara would be the first to say that, but he was surprisingly good when it came to tactics.

The Hydralisk seemed to realize what Jaune was doing, and it lunged at them, mouths open. Kara clumsily dodged the first head and the second struck her across the back. She whirled in place and fell to one knee, barely gathering her senses together to duck under the third head. A flash of brilliance came to her, and she surged up, smashing her fist into the underside of the Hydralisk's neck.

Armor fractured and the Hydralisk's heads recoiled away from her. But it was hardly enough. The attack had broken up their group further, separated by a wall of scaly Hydralisk heads. On one side, Kara stood with Nora and Jaune. On the other, she could hear the cracks of gunfire from Ren and Pyrrha's weapons. Her x-ray vision confirmed it, they were separated from the best fighter in the group.

A head lunged past Kara towards Nora and Jaune, but Nora knocked it away with her hammer. Jaune flinched and back pedaled reflexively.

"G-guys! I think I might have a plan, but we need to get around this thing!"

"Easy for you to say!" Nora yelled and smacked another head away.

"Nora, focus!" Ren's voice was punctuated by gunfire, and the Hydralisk's bellows, as the massive Grimm snapped its heads at the five students, keeping a disproportionately large attention on Kara.

Jaune managed to interpose his shield in time to block a beak going straight for Nora's back, as he called out loud to the others over the cacophony of battle.

"Kara, try hitting it in more places, go for the necks - keep as many heads occupied as you can!"

"Are you out of you mind, Jaune? This is insane enough as it is!" Despite her words, Kara's fist cracked into the side of another of the Hydralisk's neck, cracks spider webbing across the bony plate, and the Grimm roared, its onslaught lessening for a moment.

"I told you, I have a plan! Look, you're the only one really hurting it and it knows it! If you can keep it focused on you for just a minute, we can get to the other side, team up, and hit it where it hurts!"

Nora interrupted the blond boy with a manic cackle and a hammer swing, "Don't you worry Kara, we'll break the lizard's legs yet!"

"This idea is insane, and so are you!" Kara's cry was followed by a strike from another head that sent her rolling across the ground. Stars flashed before her eyes and bells rang in her ears. Jaune yelled at her, his words muffled, garbled.

The Hydralisk was smart, massive, and powerful. It had cornered them against the cliff and none of them had the firepower to hurt it, except for Kara. But there was no way she could hope to hold the Hydralisk off on her own.

Her vision came into back into focus, the world clear once more. In her roll across the ground, the chain of her necklace had snapped and it had fallen out of arm's reach. The crest of the House of El shimmered under the midday sun, until the Hydralisk's shadow fell over it.

Kara looked up, up at the looming monstrosity that knocked aside fellow students, that plowed through their attacks with contemptuous ease. There was no telling if Kara really could hope to hold the Hydralisk on her own.

But she'd never know for sure unless she tried.

Kara grabbed her necklace as she got to her feet, and squared her shoulders. The Hydralisk swung several of its heads around to face her, including a familiar scorched head that hissed angrily at her. She slipped her necklace and it's broken chain into her pocket, and took a deep breath. A calm exhale and Kara felt the world slow.

It was strange how her time on Remnant affected her senses. The reflexes she needed to use her speed and strength effectively would be beyond anything she could have mustered on Krypton. Yet, when she didn't use her powers, Kara still processed the world as she always had. But when the time for a fight came, it was as if the world had been dunked underwater.

The Hydralisk's movements, impossible to track before, now weaved in a slow liquid grace. Kara could count the seconds it took for Ren to flip over another striking head and counter strike. No longer was the world a blur of colours and patterns, now Kara could analyze and dissect it at her leisure, and she had the perfect subject standing before her.

No one saw Kara strike. Even if they had not been fighting for their lives, all they'd have seen was a blonde blur whiz through the air towards the Hydralisk head on, and collide with its barrel-chest in a thunderous 'Thwa-Crack!' of flesh against exoskeleton. The Grimm made a confused squawking sound as its chestplate shattered and it was knocked backwards onto its hindquarters, all twelve heads snapping back from the battle to investigate this sudden attack.

It let out another surprised shriek when Kara leapt at its nearest head, digging fingers under armor plating and pounding the side of its head like a drum. Up went the Hydralisk's head, like a demented rollercoaster, before plunging down to crush Kara beneath its weight. She was already gone though, slamming her shoulder into another head, crushing its throat, and continuing on to the third head.

This continued for another minute or two, Kara swiftly moving from head to head with hard blows that shattered the hardened bone into chips and spraying fragments. The Hydralisk shrieked in frustration, the other students completely forgotten for the moment. They gathered together on the other side of the Hydralisk, Jaune leaned over and panting hard.

"Should… should we help her?" Ren asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the spectacle.

"No… no…" Jaune gasped and stood up, "She's buying us...whew… time. I think we can take this thing down easy though, if she can keep it distracted. We won't have long though."

Nora and Ren looked at each other, then to Pyrrha, whose gaze hadn't left the spectacle before her, as Pyrrha was gobsmacked. Kara moved faster and hit harder than any Huntsman Pyrrha had ever seen in battle, without even the use of a weapon. Even if her technique and movement, what little she could make out, seemed clumsy and untrained, Kara's raw ability more than made up for it.

Pyrrha finally noticed the looks and tore her eyes away from the battle, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Blondie says he has a plan," Nora explained.

"It's Jaune."

Nora ignored him, "But we wanted a second opinion."

Pyrrha blinked, and looked at Jaune, "You have a plan?"

Jaune sighed, "Yes. I have a plan. I have a plan to kill that thing, and we're wasting time debating if I have a plan!"

"Well, what is it then?"

He pointed at Nora's grenade launcher, "How many of those grenades do you have?"

Nora spun the drum and grinned, "How many do you need?"

Kara couldn't keep this up forever. She had never used her powers like this for so long before. Normally a few seconds were all she needed, but the Hydralisk was proving to be very durable, and Kara was getting tired; not physically, but mentally. Her reflexes and senses may move at a rate far faster than normal, but her mind wasn't used to processing so much information so fast, for such an extended duration. Already Kara felt like she had been awake for several days straight. Exhaustion would kill her before the Hydralisk.

Though that wasn't for lack of trying.

The young Kryptonian slammed another head's mouth shut and shoved the head away, then backhanded a second head. A third came for her, but at the last second retreated, and the ground erupted beneath her feet. Kara jumped from ground zero, clambered over a piece of falling debris faster than the eye could track, and landed on the other side where she collapsed to her knees.

Sweat racing down her face in rivers, and though the effort had been minimal, she felt exhaustion catching up with her. Kara had thought her abilities would be able to compensate for her lack of training, that she'd be able to survive initiation into proper training at Beacon. How foolish she had been, and if she survived this, she knew that Glynda would be waiting for her with an 'I told you so'.

Though at the moment, that was the least of her concerns. The Hydralisk was readying itself, its battered and scarred heads surrounding her in an arena of scale and bone, preparing to rip and tear until there was nothing of her. So focused on her was it though, that it didn't notice the rest of the students behind it.

Kara did though.

Through its shifting coils, she saw Jaune standing up and waving his hands, and she could hear him yelling over the shrieking and hissing. "Kara! Kara! We're all set! Run for it!"

That was confusing, had Jaune actually done anything in this amount of time? And if so, how had he done it so fast? Kara very quickly decided that those were questions for later, and dredged up what little strength she had left and focused on the boy.

One moment she was surrounded by the Hydralisk's dozen heads, the next she had plowed through a brief opening, sprinting underneath its bulk. Several heads shrieked and chased after her, but they couldn't reach her under its own body. Kara booked it towards the others, and saw Nora raise something, before smashing that into another thing in her hand.

Over two dozen hot pink explosions rippled across the cliffside, each inconsequential on their own, but together, they shook the ground beneath her feet. The Hydralisk froze, and Kara stumbled over her feet, freezing when she hit the ground. There was a brief moment of silence that followed those explosions.

The ground began to move a moment later.

Somehow, someway, the force of those grenades had been enough to destabilize the cliffside. Maybe if the Hydralisk hadn't been there it would have had no effect, but the massive creature's weight would certainly add a strain to the cliffside. Now the ground began to shift beneath Kara's feet, and she saw the horizon beginning to rise with the fall.

That was a good cue to run.

Kara clambered over falling debris and scurried across the ground as fast as she could manage. Behind her, the Hydralisk twisted its great bulk to do the same, but the shift only made the collapse worse. Great fractures formed in the ground, the earth cleaving into chunks of dirt as large as a truck. The ground beneath Kara's feet separated and she found herself wildly swinging her arms and legs through the air, before hitting another rising piece of earth.

The air shook under the frustrated screams of the Hydralisk, for it could not gain a hold of the ground. Earth broke beneath its massive feet and its heads could not grasp a sturdy enough object to support its weight. The cliffside began sliding now, carrying it away.

Kara ground her teeth, shoved herself to her feet, and made a final mad dash for solid ground. Her little shard of earth rapidly rose higher and higher, the ground beneath her feet growing almost vertical. But Kara didn't stop for a moment, and to her shock, she realized she was running up a near straight ninety degree slope without slowing. The things she could do, if she had trained…

She reached the peak and leapt towards her classmates. The gap was wide, easily fifty feet of empty air and her leap was bad. Even now she could see that she was going to fall just short of the ground! Kara wildly flailed her limbs in an effort to slow herself, humorous to watch were it not for the imminent death she was about to reach.

Face first was how she hit the side of the cliff, burying her face a good two or three inches into the new cliffside, before gravity grabbed her and started dragging her into the ravine.

"I've got you!" Pyrrha grabbed Kara by the wrist, halting her descent.

That was when the Hydralisk, possibly out of spite, lunged for Kara. Its head burst through fog and earth, mouth wide to reveal the hundreds of squirming tongues inside, hungry for Kryptonian. What it got instead, was a mouthful of pink smoke, Nora's grenade fired right down its throat.

It screeched in frustration as its final act was thwarted, and gravity at last took its toll. In one final plunge, the cliffside and Hydralisk went screaming into the welcoming embrace of the endless white fog of the ravine. It vanished and soon its screams were silenced by a solid thud that Kara felt all the way up on the cliffside.

She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and looked up at her partner. Pyrrha looked concerned, "Are you okay?"

"I am okay." Kara looked down at her dangling feet, "Just… hanging around."

* * *

Kara felt awful. Not in the physical or mental way, though she felt like sleep was going to hit her hard soon. No, she felt awful in the selfish childish brat sort of way. She had cheated her way into Beacon, forged her documents and had barely survived initiation and as a result, Jaune hadn't found a partner.

After defeating the Hydralisk, Ruby and her… friends? Had managed to put the giant Nevermore down in a far more organized manner. Getting to the exit had been simple, and everyone had celebrated, until they realized that Jaune had never found a partner. Which meant that he would not be getting into Beacon.

And it was all Kara's fault.

Even if the boy hadn't known about Aura, he had still gotten into Beacon fairly, and Kara had robbed him of an opportunity. The realization had her like a truck, and by the time she had realized it, they were already on the airship and taking off. Jaune must have realized it too, because the entire ride he was silent. They had been escorted off the airship upon landing at Beacon and when Kara asked about Jaune, she had been told he would be given an expense paid trip home and would have first rate consideration for next year. But he still wouldn't get into Beacon this year.

That was her fault, all of it.

Even as they now sat in the auditorium, as Ozpin announced the teams for the rest of their time at Beacon, all Kara could focus on was her lie. Sure, she had passed initiation, but only barely. If Pyrrha hadn't caught her, and if it hadn't been for Jaune's plan, she would have fallen into that ravine with the Hydralisk. Or worse.

But of course, she had known she was ready, right? The past year she had gone on and on to Glynda about how ready she was for Beacon, that she could easily keep up with the others and keep her powers in control. Never had Kara considered how exhausting it would be for her on a mental level, or that she might ruin someone else's life in the process. When this was over, she was going to talk to Ozpin and Glynda and request that she be removed from the Academy. It was the least she could do.

Pyrrha nudged Kara from her brooding and she blinked, "Huh?"

"Ozpin called us," Pyrrha explained, "Come on."

The Initiates had been lined up in the auditorium following their test, and parents and faculty sat in the benches that lined the stage, applauding as each team was announced, their faces and new team name plastered on a huge vid-screen overhead. A quick glance showed Kara that, no surprise, Ruby and her friends had been assembled in a team, with Ruby as team leader.

The Schnee Girl looked ready to throw a hissy fit, which made Kara smile, just a little.

But now Ozpin was calling her and Pyrrha up, along with Ren and Nora. Kara should have expected this, after all, they had fought the Hydralisk together and Nora had saved Kara's life too. They'd make a good team.

They came to a stop in front of Ozpin, who leaned heavily on his cane. Glynda stood behind him, her features carved from stone. Kara couldn't meet her eyes.

"Kara Goodwitch, Lie Ren, Pyrrha Nikos, and Nora Valkyrie. Together you showed a sense of comradery in the field and vanquished a dangerous beast. From this day forward you shall be known as team: Paragon!"

Kara felt her throat tighten with excitement, even as the crowd applauded and Nora glomped Ren. Up above, the letters of their names were arranged to spell an abbreviated form of their new team name: PRGN. It was official now.

Ozpin continued, "Lead by Pyrrha Nikos!"

More clapping ensued, more subdued. It would have been more surprising if Pyrrha hadn't been chosen to lead honestly. Kara smiled at her, "Congratulations, you earned it."

Pyrrha beamed, "I had a good partner and teammates. I just didn't know it."

"Indeed." Ozpin said, "Let us see if you live up to your reputation this year, Miss Nikos. I wish you the best of luck. Dismissed."

That was it. They were now apart of Beacon, and official Huntsmen-in-training.

Now Kara just had to figure out a way to undo it.

 **A/N: I present to you all, the chapter from hell! Goddamn do I hate this chapter. Every step of the way it fought me tooth and nail and I am still incredibly unsatisfied with it. I'm having my editor look it over again, but jesus...**

 **Hopefully though, with this chapter out of the way, I can finally start updating more frequently. Sorry for the long wait guys, and feel free to lambast me in the reviews.**

 **See you all next time, ciao!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: New Home, New Problems**

"But what about Periwinkle?"

"What?"

"Periwinkle! Its an actual color, and it would fit all our names!" Nora explained. Together, Team PRGN walked to their new room in the dormitory. The dorms were split into four buildings: Building One, Building Two, Building Three, and Building Four. New students were assigned to dorms in Building One, and would change rooms as the years went by. As far as Kara knew, there was no discernible difference between them, and it was mostly just an organizational measure to keep Glynda from tearing her hair out in frustration.

They were assigned Room 1-8, and it was a long walk from the auditorium to the dorms. Well, it certainly felt like a long walk to Kara after initiation. She dragged her feet, lagging behind the rest of PRGN, while Nora, who was proving to be quite the feisty redhead, had complained loudly and at length about their team name. According to her, Paragon wasn't a 'real color' and thus their team name was terrible.

"Yes," Ren agreed, "but not all teams have been named after colors. Some are named after actions or concepts."

Kara had quickly decided in the short time she knew him, that she liked Ren. He was a calm, sensible boy and seemed to keep Nora from bouncing off the walls. The duo seemed to complement each other well, and like everyone else on Remnant, their choice of clothing was just bizarre to Kara. An armored corset and poofy pink skirt for Nora and a long flowing green robe and stark white slacks for Ren. Irritatingly enough, neither of them had a speck of dirt or tear on their uniforms either.

Neither did Pyrrha, come to think of it. Kara glanced down at her dusty and crumpled clothes and resisted the urge to sigh. Huntsmen had one key advantage over her, and that was the protection their Aura provided to their clothes. Kara was lucky her dignity had survived the battle with the Hydralisk, even if her clothes were ruined.

Nora snorted, dragging Kara's attention back to the conversation, "Come on, every other team in our class has a color name. Why don't we?"

"Well, Paragon is technically a color." Kara piped up.

Nora and Ren both glanced back at her and Kara shrank, "Paragon Blue? It is a shade of color if I am correct."

That made Nora wrinkle her nose, "That's a stretch…"

"Nora…" Ren said, his tone low.

"What? It is!"

Ren sighed and shrugged at Kara. It made her happy knowing that at least three fourths of her team was composed of sensible, rational people. Though Pyrrha's armor definitely put that statement into question.

Speaking of Pyrrha, she had taken point to find their room. A good number of the new teams had either stayed behind to chat with family, or wandered off to grab a bite to eat, so the halls were empty for the moment. The relative peace and quiet had been a relief for Kara, until Nora had started rambling, and Pyrrha hadn't said a word the entire time.

"We're here," Pyrrha announced, ending the conversation for the moment. Kara had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time they talked about their team name.

Their room was simple. Four twin-sized beds were evenly spaced opposite the door along the wall. The walls were a soft white like the rest of the school and there were two closets at three and nine o'clock. There were nightstands between the beds too and a set of bookshelves lined the wall on either side of the door. Although the room as a whole was a little cramped, it also felt a little homey.

"It's a bit… bare." Ren noted.

That was true, the walls and shelves were devoid of any decorations or books. Obviously for personal items if Kara had cared to guess. That was fine by her, it was a level of freedom that she hadn't been able to experience in a long while.

"We can decorate!" Nora declared, thinking on the same wavelength as Kara. She promptly jumped across the room and claimed the bed left of the window, "Mine!"

"Didn't even hesitate…" Kara muttered.

"She'll do that," Ren said. "You don't mind if I take the bed in the corner next to her, do you?"

"No."

"Not at all."

He nodded and walked over to his bed, inspecting the frame to see if it met his standards. Kara turned to Pyrrha and scratched the back of her head, "So… do you want the other window bed? I can take the corner, it is no big deal." She wasn't going to be here long anyway.

"No," Pyrrha shook her head, "You get the pick. My team takes first priority."

Kara was glad that Ozpin had chosen Pyrrha as team leader. If Kara had been in charge, she might not have been able to resist taking the window seat for herself. Waking up to the rising sun was always a treat back home.

"Thank you, Pyrrha."

"Indeed. Your sense of priority is commendable."

Everyone froze and all eyes shot to the door. Kara had to suppress a sigh, and said, "Hello, mother."

The rest of her team silently watched the two with rapt interest. Glynda sighed and stepped to the side of the door, "I would appreciate a moment alone with my daughter, if that isn't too much to ask."

"No, no, of course not." Pyrrha said. She moved to the door with Ren and Nora in tow, sparing a glance at Kara before she left.

Kara nodded; she was going to be fine, hopefully. Honestly, she wasn't sure why Glynda was here now, though she could hazard a guess that she probably wanted to chew her out. Kara was all too aware of how sloppy her fight with the Hydralisk had been and she wouldn't be surprised if Glynda wanted to remind her about every mistake she had made.

Glynda shut the door behind Nora and waited for a moment. Once she was sure that no one was attempting to eavesdrop, the woman seemed to relax by a millimeter, and adjusted her glasses. "You're wondering why I'm here."

It was a statement, not a question. Kara answered anyway, "I have a few theories. But you are going to tell me regardless, are you not?"

"I saw your fight with the Hydralisk from start to finish." Kara rolled her eyes and sighed, as Glynda spoke. "You fight sloppy. Your style is uneven, your awareness is barely existent and you hesitate at the slightest resistance in an attempt to think around a problem. You have no instinct for combat. Even the Arc boy took to combat more easily than you."

Kara hung her head, her voice just a tad too dry, "Well… thank you for the honesty."

Glynda folded her arms and paced back and forth, keeping her gaze solely on Kara. "I'm not finished. Seeing you struggle and flounder like that made me realize that you…"

She paused, and Kara looked up, curious, bewildered. Glynda stood in place, obviously chewing over her next words, as if the very act of thinking them was giving her pause. Finally, she managed to force out what she was thinking.

"You… were right. You need… to be trained. And taught how to work with others. I… needed to see that."

Kara's thoughts ground to a screeching halt. This didn't happen. Glynda did not just admit she was wrong, or that Kara was right; never this directly. At best, Kara's guardian would find a roundabout way to communicate such things, but she would never flat-out say that Kara was right. The only time she remembered her guardian doing otherwise was when Ozpin was around, who seemed to be the sole exception.

Glynda saying this was as likely as the Grimm invading Beacon, yet here they were having this conversation. It almost made Kara regret and take back what she was going to say next. Almost.

"Um… Glynda… I actually think I need to wait another year before going to Beacon. I am fairly certain you had the right idea, and dropping out would probably be for the best."

Her guardian didn't move, but her left eye visibly twitched, and Kara could have sworn she heard the glass window behind her crack.

"...Pardon?" Glynda's voice was tight.

Kara winced and kept her eyes down. "Y-you see… I did not really get into Beacon properly. I lied to you, falsified my transcripts and robbed others of an opportunity to come to this school. I think it would be for the best if I simply waited instead, for a proper term. Right?"

Glynda didn't move and kept focused on Kara. For a solid, excruciating minute, the towering woman did not say a word, and Kara felt very, very small for the entire duration, as she braced herself for what was to come. If Glynda was angry, then it was a cold, tranquil fury. The worst kind of anger.

Finally, she spoke, her voice neutral, "What brought this on? You were incredibly adamant about going last night. Is this because of the boy who didn't find a partner?"

Kara shrugged, "Well, I mean, it could have been for any reason, I just needed time to think and reflect on the consequences of my actions… It is not really any one thing, I think."

"You are a terrible liar, Kara Zor-El." Glynda narrowed her eyes.

"Well!" Kara flung her hands in the air, "Jaune was the reason we defeated the Hydralisk. He was smart and kept his cool and could not get into the school because of me. That is my fault and it is my responsibility to rectify this situation."

That was the simple truth of the matter and if Glynda didn't like it… well, that was going to make things difficult for Kara. She had no idea how else she could drop out of Beacon without throwing every test she was given.

To her surprise though, Glynda sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Ozpin said this would likely happen… Kara, don't worry about the Arc boy. He did exceptionally well for someone who didn't even know what Aura is. His entrance into Beacon next year is all but confirmed. He's not the first student to fail initiation and he won't be the last."

"But he failed because of me!" Kara shouted. Why didn't Glynda understand this? Jaune failing was because Kara had taken his spot, it was all her fault.

"He failed because he was clearly unprepared for Beacon. You think you're the only one who's faked their transcripts into Beacon before?" Glynda asked.

Kara opened her mouth with a retort ready, and then faltered, "I… wait. What?"

"The boy would have died on the platform if Ms. Nikos hadn't intervened. He had no Aura, no combat experience and no landing strategy. He was completely clueless about the very existence of Aura, and used antiquated weapons. I had my suspicions, but Ozpin has all but confirmed that Mr. Arc lied to get into Beacon."

Kara sputtered, "Wha-how-wh- he did!?"

"Of course. We get several applications from outside official sources into Beacon. Most of them are falsified and rejected. If they made it past me to Ozpin though, and Ozpin approved of it…" Glynda let out a long suffering sigh, "Then that means he wanted Mr. Arc to at least attempt initiation. And he wanted you here as well."

Kara's mouth was agape, and words failed her. Glynda reached over and gently closed shut her jaw, "Close your mouth, dear. Does that help clarify things for you?"

"No, not in the least. I… I do not understand." Kara shook her head, "Why would Ozpin let someone in with such a clear lack of experience?"

That made Glynda shrugged, "I don't understand most of Ozpin's decisions, but more often than not, the results show that he knows what he's doing. If I had to guess, he believed that Mr. Arc could either back up his claims on his transcript, or has the potential for it. We both know what he thinks about you."

Ozpin had made it abundantly clear since Kara's powers had manifested that Kara should be trained how to use them, and had encouraged her to pursue a path that would help her bring them under control. No matter the setback, Ozpin always insisted that Kara practice, before practicing a bit more, followed by even more practice. He was one of the few who supported her, no matter what situations came to light. Kara had never considered how this would translate to others outside her social circle.

"So what you are saying is that… Ozpin…"

"Will likely accept Mr. Arc into Beacon again next year with open arms after today's showing." Glynda put a hand on Kara's shoulder, "The transcript is just a formality, a way to weed out those who deserve a chance and those that don't. Kara, you proved you deserve to be here."

Kara rubbed at her eye, there must have been some dirt in it because her vision was getting blurry. "I just… do not want anyone getting into trouble because of me. I just want to help people."

"And you will. After all…" Glynda reached into the small black clutch that hung against her hip and produced a plastic card. "You're a Huntress-in-training."

Glynda never saw Kara take the card; one moment it was in her hand, the next Kara was holding it up to the light with wide eyes. "This is… this is the ID? I thought it took a week for them to be sent out to everyone?"

"I know how you feel about these formalities, so I pulled a few strings." Glynda shrugged and reached into her clutch again, "I also brought a few things you might need."

One of Kara's many spare set of glasses, which she immediately slid onto her nose and felt relieved as the world grew a little more quiet. The other item in Glynda's hand though, made her frown.

"Glynda…" she started.

"I know, I know, it's been a long time since the last attack. But I figure, better safe than sorry, especially since you won't be at home anymore."

What she held in her hand was a plastic cylinder in the shape of an L, with a replaceable capsule making up most of its body. Humans on Remnant used these inhalers for asthmatic treatment, and Kara had as well, once upon a time. The air on Remnant was much thicker than on Krypton and it hadn't been uncommon for Kara to choke on air when she first arrived. She had adapted though and hadn't needed it in almost two years now. But Glynda insisted they hold onto it anyway, just in case.

Kara sighed and pocketed the inhaler. "Satisfied?"

"Immensely." Glynda confirmed.

A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Glynda coughed into her hand and looked at the door, "I should… probably let your team back in. I have a mountain of paperwork waiting for me on my desk."

"Of course, of course. Thank for… clearing the air."

Glynda smiled as she opened the door, "Of course. And don't worry about Mr. Arc, Kara. He'll be fine."

* * *

Jaune had expected a quick ride home after everyone had gotten off the airship. There wasn't a reason to sit around and wait after all, he was a flunkee. The saddest part about that wasn't even that he failed, but that he wasn't surprised. Trying to bluff his way into Beacon, what had he been thinking? Forget about passing, he was lucky to have survived Initiation. He must have done something wrong though, because the pilot didn't take him home.

In fact, they hadn't even left the launchpad. Jaune waited patiently for over an hour in the back of the airship. Nothing, no engines, no sound from the pilot, just silence. He was about to get up and see what was going on, when someone walked into the airship, and took a seat opposite him.

Professor Ozpin took a sip from his coffee mug and stretched his left leg as he sat down, an obvious expression of relief spreading over his face. He set his cane next to him between the seats and adjusted his glasses, peering intently at Jaune.

Jaune fidgeted in his seat and said, "I… um, can I help you sir?"

"You know, Mr. Arc." Ozpin said, "Very few individuals would have the courage to attempt what you did today."

"Sir?"

Ozpin sipped from his cups, "Don't act surprised Mr. Arc. Did you really think your fake transcripts wouldn't be spotted? We have a very strict entry policy, and though the forgery was of an exceptionally high quality, it was still just that."

The blood in Jaune's veins froze and his heart began pounding like a drum. "S-sir, I can explain-!"

Ozpin silenced him with a raised hand, "As I said, it was quite courageous of you to attempt initiation, especially given your obvious lack of combat training. The fact that you not only survived but played a key role in the defeat of a Grimm not seen since the Great War speaks volumes about your potential."

Another sip from his coffee and he peered over his glasses at Jaune, "Though I suppose it is to be expected from an Arc, isn't it?"

Jaune just swallowed, his voice failing him. Ozpin continued speaking, ignoring the boy's terrified expression. "I want you to understand, Jaune, that you made it into Beacon because I allowed you to. It takes a considerable amount of effort, skill, and courage to forge or acquire documents like that and even more to survive a single day in the Emerald Forest without Aura. Very few could pull that off without training."

"I… I…"

Ozpin continued, "I would like to offer you a deal, Mr. Arc. I can't open a spot for you in Beacon, at least not this year. The system in place is precise and wouldn't allow for a five man team. However, I would be willing to provide study material and private tutoring sessions to improve your skills, on two conditions."

Jaune's head was swimming with confusion, excitement and fear. He could only nod dumbly, and Ozpin smiled, "Condition one, you will put the same effort into your training that you put in today. I will expect nothing less of you. Reasonable?"

The boy nodded.

"Condition two." Ozpin pushed his glasses back into place. "I want access to the research notes and artifacts from your grandfather, Dan Arc."

* * *

An early morning rise was always an excellent way to start the day, and the only way to make it better, was to surprise a certain strong silent type that slept in the bed next to hers. Nora giggled to herself and pounced on Ren's bed, like she did every morning to wake him up. For some reason, he always seemed to wake up late if she wasn't there to act as his alarm clock. A role she happily filled.

"Wake up sleepy head!" she laughed.

No response.

Nora blinked and cocked her head to the side, "Ren?"

Pulling back the covers revealed his bed to be empty. Ren had woken up before her? He'd woken up without waking her up!? How was Nora supposed to know where he had vanished to?

Nora was quick to spring into action searching high and low for her missing partner. Under his bed, under her bed, in the closet, and out the window calling Ren's name as she looked. Yet there was no sign of him.

"Ren!" Nora lifted Kara's empty bed over her head and saw that, no, he wasn't there either.

"Nora?" Pyrrha stifled a yawn, still dressed in her pajamas and her long red hair a tangled rat's nest atop her head. "What are you doing?"

Her teammate dropped the bed with a thud and dusted her hands off, "Well you see, I normally wake Ren up after I wake up. But today, he wasn't in bed and he isn't normally not in bed so this is totally weird. So I'm looking for him and I'm not having any luck. I've looked all over the room, checked the mess hall, checked the girls and boys restroom and shower, checked the roof and even went to the landing pads. Nothing!"

Pyrrha rubbed her eyes and looked around their now wrecked room, "I see… Have you asked Kara if she's seen him?"

Nora blinked, "Um, no, not yet… actually, I haven't seen her either!"

Pyrrha swung her legs out over the floor and stood up stretching, "Right then. If you haven't seen either of them, then I think I know a place they could be."

"Really!? Where!?"

They had taken a few minutes to get dressed and for Pyrrha to tame her mane before the girls headed out for the one place Nora hadn't thought to look for her missing partner. As Pyrrha suspected, Kara and Ren were in fact, studying in the library.

Beacon had one of the largest libraries in Vale, a multi-story building filled with historical texts, memoirs of some of the most famous Huntsmen in history, and scientific and military journals. Anything a student might need, they could find in the endless walls of text that made up the inner-confines of the library.

From what Pyrrha knew so far about Kara, the library definitely seemed like a place the curious and scientifically-minded young girl would go, and the silence would be quite appealing to Ren. The two of them sat at a table on the second floor with a small mountain of books stacked in the middle of the table.

"Ren! There you are!" Nora shouted.

One of the librarians poked their head out from behind a bookshelf and held a finger to her lip, eyes burning with annoyance. If Nora took notice, she certainly didn't show it as she bound up and sat next to her partner.

"You just disappeared without saying anything! What's up with that?"

Ren set his book down and said, "Sorry Nora, I didn't mean to."

"That is my fault Nora." Kara interrupted. "I was having trouble getting sleep last night. I think I woke Ren up by mistake and he suggested we go here to relax. We may have become lost in the text and lost track of the time. Apologies."

Nora blinked a few times and then looked at Ren. He nodded, and Nora smiled, "Oh, okay. I mean, I guess I can understand that."

"Maybe next time you can join us?" Kara offered, smiling. "It can be quite enlightening browsing the texts."

Her teammate looked at the tower of doorstopper books that Ren and Kara had assembled, and her eyes shrunk to pinpoints, "Hehe… I'll pass."

"It does make for a good head start though," Pyrrha noted, taking a seat across from Kara, "Especially since classes start today."

"Oh, right, when do they start again?"

"About half an hour."

"Wait, what!?" Kara jumped to her feet, and the entire heavy oaken table flipped onto its side, spilling books across the floor and onto crashing onto poor Pyrrha in an avalanche of paper.

Kara winced and reached out a hesitant hand, "Whoops…"

A shadow fell over team PRGN, who turned to see the same librarian from earlier glaring down at them. If looks could kill, Kara would be on a fast track to visiting Rao in the sun.

"I believe it's time you four went to class."

* * *

 **A/N: Told ya I'd update sooner. Short chapter, really simple. Hope you enjoyed. Not sure when the next will go up, but please feel free to let me know what you think by leaving a review.  
**

 **Ciao.**


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